Wyoming Notary Rules and Responsibilities

Every notarial act rests on satisfactory evidence of identity, defined in W.S. 32-3-102. That means personal knowledge, an identification credential, or the sworn statement of a credible witness who is known to you or who shows you a credential.

An identification credential is a passport, driver's license or other ID issued by a federal, state or tribal government agency that is current or expired no more than three years. The Secretary of State's rule (Chapter 6, Section 2) adds that the credential must include a photograph of the person being identified. For remote acts, the statute allows identity proofing through two or more types of technology when the platform requires it.

W.S. 32-3-111 also asks for more than identity. For acknowledgments, jurats and signature witnessing, you must be satisfied the signature was made knowingly and willingly for its intended purpose, and for a representative signer that the person actually holds the capacity claimed.

W.S. 32-3-114 lists what a certificate must contain: the county and state where you are physically located, the principal's name (or the record copied, or the fact verified), the type of act, the date, your signature matching the one on file, your title, and your stamp. A remote act must also say it was performed with communication technology, and the rules require naming the platform used. The Secretary of State's sample forms include a line for the document's title so a loose certificate cannot be moved to a different record.

Wyoming spells out a correction process. A notary may later fix information on or missing from a certificate if the journal entry supports it, dating and initialing each change and noting it in the journal. A stamp impression may never be altered; if it was wrong or illegible, you add a new impression. Only the notary who performed the act can make or authorize the change.

Under W.S. 32-3-116 your official signature must be filed with the Secretary of State, stay reasonably similar to the sample, and be in blue or black ink on paper. The stamp must follow the prescribed rectangle and text exactly, with no seal images and no county name, and it must be replaced every term. W.S. 32-3-117 makes you the sole owner of the stamping device, bars anyone else from using it, requires you to destroy or disable it when the commission ends, and requires prompt notice if it is lost or stolen.

W.S. 32-3-118(d) requires a journal chronicling every notarial act, kept on paper, electronically, or both. The Secretary of State's presentation also asks you to record refusals and corrections and recommends keeping the journal for your entire term.

Keep it secure and under your sole control. You may not let another notary use it or hand it to an employer when you leave a job without the Secretary of State's approval, although the employer may keep a copy of entries made in the course of your employment. Law enforcement, a court order or the Secretary of State can require access. If the journal is lost or stolen, the rules direct you to email notaries@wyo.gov promptly.

W.S. 32-3-126 lets a notarial officer charge up to $10 per notarial act, or up to $10 per acknowledgment, signature, oath or certification when several people sign the same record. You may also charge a technology fee for remote work and a travel fee no higher than the IRS standard mileage rate, but only if the amount is agreed in advance and you explain that it is separate from the notarial fee and not set by law.

You may require payment up front. Rule Chapter 6, Section 6 says a prepaid travel fee need not be refunded if you properly refuse to act or the principal cancels with less than 24 hours' notice, but must be refunded if you cancel. An employer may bar an employee from charging fees at all.

W.S. 32-3-123(a) lists acts a notarial officer must never perform. A notary who is not a Wyoming attorney may not give legal advice, draft legal records, act as an immigration consultant, or use the words notario or notario publico, and any advertisement of notary services must carry the statutory statement that the notary is not an attorney and cannot give legal advice or charge for it. You also may not keep someone's original record from them.

Wyoming permits two kinds of remote acts. A remote online notarization works on an electronic record and may be used for any notarial act. A remote ink notarization is an acknowledgment of a paper record performed over audio-video. W.S. 32-3-118 requires a recording of the entire communication for every remote act. Before your first electronic or remote act, W.S. 32-3-120(g) requires you to tell the Secretary of State and name the technology you will use.

Physical notarizations are not limited to Wyoming. Under W.S. 32-3-104(b), a Wyoming notary may act in a bordering state if that state recognizes the authority, and must follow Wyoming law while doing so. The venue is always the state and county where you are physically located.