The Hawaii Notary Public Exam

The Attorney General designates the locations and times (HAR 5-11-32(c)). According to the office's notary page, the test is given on Oahu at least once a month and on the neighbor islands periodically; the eHawaii FAQ adds that Oahu sittings usually fall on the second Wednesday and neighbor island sittings are quarterly. The application instructions say you will be tested at a designated location in the county where you live.

You cannot pick a date before your application is approved. The approval email tells you to log in to your notary account and choose a seat in the Notary Exam Scheduler, after which an exam notification letter confirms the date, time and place.

The official sources describe the exam as written and closed-book. Both the Attorney General's notary page and the Notary Public Manual state that it covers the statutes and rules that apply to Hawaii notaries along with the practical side of notarial work and a notary's duties and responsibilities. The minimum passing score is 80 percent under HAR 5-11-32(a), and the manual repeats that figure.

The office's published materials do not state how many questions the exam has or how long you get, so do not rely on any number you see elsewhere. Plan for a proctored paper sitting with no notes and ask the office directly if timing matters to you.

HAR 5-11-46 and the Attorney General's fee schedule set these charges, all nonrefundable:

Do not call for your score. The office mails a written result within 30 calendar days of the sitting, with instructions for the next step. If you fall short of 80 percent, HAR 5-11-32(e) lets you retest without a new application, but only if you request the retake, pay another $10 and reschedule within 14 calendar days of the failure notice. Miss that window and you must reapply and pay the application and exam fees again. After two failed attempts, you must wait 90 days from the last exam before applying again (HAR 5-11-32(f)).

Remote online notary applicants face a second, separate exam on notarizing for remotely located individuals, taken after they already hold a traditional commission (HAR 5-11-64).

HAR 5-11-33 says the test measures reasonable knowledge of the general principles and practices of notarial acts and of the laws and rules for notaries, naming HRS chapter 456, HRS sections 502-41 to 502-74 (the Bureau of Conveyances provisions dealing with acknowledgments) and HAR chapter 5-11. The Attorney General's page lists sections to know thoroughly, including 456-1 to 456-21 and several court and conveyancing provisions. Expect questions in these areas:

Most delays have nothing to do with knowledge. Candidates let an incomplete application sit past the 90-day abandonment point, skip a sitting without telling the office, or read the failure letter a week late and blow the 14-day rebooking window. Each of those sends you back to the start with new letters and new fees.

On the content side, the questions that trip people up tend to be the ones where Hawaii differs from national habits: the seal must be one circular rubber stamp under the 2022 rules, the journal records the ID number, identification may rest on a credential expired up to three years, and a notary may not certify copies of vital records. Read those sections of the manual twice.

Start with the Notary Public Manual the office publishes on its website, then read HRS chapter 456 and HAR chapter 5-11 straight through, because the exam draws on all three. The application instruction sheet also contains a short section on general duties, with definitions of acknowledgments, oaths, affidavits, depositions and protests, and warns that the exam may cover it.

Because you cannot bring notes, memorize the numbers: 18, four years, $1,000, 30 days to report changes, 10 days to report a lost seal or journal, 90 days to surrender a seal, ten years of journal retention and the $5 fee per signer for an acknowledgment. Then practice applying rules to short scenarios, such as a signer with an expired license or a notary asked to certify a birth certificate copy.

For drilling, NotaryPrepHQ has a Hawaii practice bank written from chapter 456, chapter 5-11 and the manual, with a diagnostic, topic drills that explain each answer, and timed practice exams that produce a readiness score. It costs a single payment with lifetime access and carries a 30-day money-back guarantee.