 Notary Legislative Updates – Effective August 1, 2025
The recent 2025 legislative session included changes to two sections of North Dakota law that will go into effect on August 1, 2025. The first change relates to the fees a notary may charge when performing a notarial act on an electronic document (electronic notarization) and for a remotely located individual (remote notarization).
Current notary law (N.D.C.C. § 44-06.1-28) provides that a notary may charge:
- No more than $5 per notarial act; and
- A travel fee (if travel is required) provided the fee is agreed to in advance and the notary explains that the travel fee is separate from the $5 fee and not required by law.
Beginning August 1, 2025, a notary may also charge a technology fee when performing a notarial act on an electronic document (electronic notarization) or for a remotely located individual (remote notarization) if:
- The notary incurred fees for using technology to perform the notarial act;
- The technology fee is agreed to in advance; and
- The notary explains that the technology fee is separate from the $5 fee.
The other change relates to renewal notices sent by our office. Current notary law requires that this notification be sent by mail to the notary’s last-known residence (N.D.C.C. § 44-06.1-20(8)). The law was updated so that the notification may be by means determined by the Secretary of State, which would allow for email or text notifications. As of now, renewal notices will continue to be mailed to the notary’s last-known address, but this change allows for other means, such as email and text, that our software systems may allow for in the future.
The certificate text is the statement included within the certificate of notarial act that indicates the type of notarial act being performed, such as an acknowledgment or verification on oath or affirmation. The certificate text varies depending on the notarial act being performed and is oftentimes the only way to know which notarial act was performed. This certificate text is required by law to be included when performing a notarial act.
The person whose signature is being notarized must inform you, the notary, which type of notarial act is being performed if it is not already printed or written on the document. While you may explain the differences between the types of notarial acts, you should not determine which notarial act should be performed. That is the responsibility of the person who is requesting the notarization. Your responsibility as the notary is to ensure that the notarial act is being performed according to North Dakota law and that the certificate of notarial act includes the necessary information for it to be a complete notarial act. More detailed information regarding the types of notarial acts, the information required for each, and examples is available under the Additional Guidance section of the Performing Notarial Acts webpage.
When performing a notarial act, one of the requirements is to include the jurisdiction of the notarial act, which is the state and county where the notarial act was performed. While this may appear to be a simple detail, it is one of the most common errors made by notaries public. If the notarial certificate is missing this information, you may handwrite the state and county on the document. If the notarial certificate is preprinted with a jurisdiction that is not accurate, you may correct the jurisdiction and initial next to the changes. In the end, ensure that the state and county of the notarial act is included and is accurate.
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