Ohio Notary Rules for New Notaries

An Ohio notary has statewide jurisdiction (Section 147.07) but must be physically inside Ohio when performing any notarial act, including online ones. The Secretary of State warns that notarizing outside the state can lead to revocation. The signer must appear before you in person, or by live two-way audio-video only if you hold online notarization authorization. Identifying someone over the phone is not allowed.

Section 147.50 recognizes two routes. Personal knowledge means you know the person through dealings sufficient to give reasonable certainty of identity. Satisfactory evidence means inspecting a passport, driver's license, government nondriver ID or other government ID bearing the person's signature or photograph, that is current or expired no more than three years, and that satisfies you. The three-year allowance is unusual, so do not confuse it with states that demand unexpired ID.

A credible witness may vouch under oath or affirmation if the witness appears before you and is either personally known to you or identified with qualifying ID. A witness with a conflict of interest, meaning a financial or other interest in the transaction or being named as a party, is not credible. You may always ask for more information or ID.

For an acknowledgment, the signer appears and declares having signed the record for its stated purpose, and in a representative capacity, with proper authority (Section 147.011(A)). No oath is given, and the document may already be signed. For a jurat, the signer swears or affirms that the statement is true and signs in your presence (Section 147.011(C)). Section 147.54 requires the oath to use one of two questions or something substantially similar, such as asking whether the person affirms under penalty of perjury that the statements are true.

Section 147.542(G) lets you explain the difference to a signer, but unless you are an attorney you may not advise which act fits their situation. If a document lacks a certificate, the signer chooses the act and you attach the matching certificate.

You must supply a completed certificate for every act (Section 147.542). It may be preprinted, stamped, handwritten or attached, and it must show the state and county venue, the acknowledgment or jurat wording, the date, your signature exactly as commissioned, your printed name below the signature or stamp, and your seal and commission expiration date. An electronic or online act needs a statement saying so. If a certificate names the wrong type of act, you must provide a correct one at no charge.

The seal under Section 147.04 carries the coat of arms in a circle three-quarters of an inch to one inch across, with your name, State of Ohio and wording such as notary public. A facsimile signature stamp is allowed only if a physical disability limits your ability to sign and you first file notice and a sample with the Secretary of State.

Section 147.08 caps fees at $5 for any notarial act that is not an online notarization and $30 for an online notarization. The fee is per act, never per signature, and you cannot charge both amounts for the same act. You may add a reasonable travel fee agreed with the principal in advance. Online notaries may also charge a technology fee of up to $10 per session, even if the signer fails identity checks. Charging more than the law allows is a prohibited act under Section 147.141(A)(18).

Section 147.141 lists what an Ohio notary must not do. The definition of conflict of interest covers any direct financial or other interest beyond your fee, or being named in the transaction as a party, such as grantor, grantee, mortgagor, trustee, beneficiary, lessor or lessee. Family members are not automatically off limits, but you may not act when that conflict exists.

For traditional in-person acts Ohio does not require a journal, though the Secretary of State strongly recommends one as evidence of appearance, ID and capacity. Online notaries must keep a tamper-evident electronic journal with 14 categories of information for each act under Section 147.65, may not record Social Security numbers in it, and must keep the audio-video recording. When online authorization ends, the journal goes to the Secretary of State or an approved repository, which keeps it for ten years.

Report a legal name or address change within 30 days and any disqualifying conviction during your term (Section 147.05). Knowingly acting after your commission expires or after you resign can bring a fine of up to $500 (Sections 147.10 and 147.99). Since HB 315, the Secretary of State may revoke a commission for giving false information on a certificate, skipping the oath on a jurat, notarizing without personal appearance, or failing to cooperate with an investigation, and revocation bars reappointment. Section 147.142 separately bars non-attorney notaries from advertising as immigration consultants or using the term notario publico.

Any commissioned notary may notarize an electronic document signed in their physical presence using an electronic signature and electronic seal (Section 147.591). Online notarization, where the principal appears by audio-video, needs separate authorization: you must be an Ohio resident, finish the two-hour course and test, and apply at notary.ohiosos.gov. The platform must support credential analysis and identity proofing by a reputable third party, and under Rule 111:6-1-05 knowledge-based questions must include at least five questions, with 80 percent answered correctly within two minutes.