Georgia Notary Laws

Georgia's notary laws are scattered across multiple sections of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.), and the January 2025 changes from House Bill 1292 rewrote significant portions of the regulatory landscape. If you're relying on a handbook or guide published before 2025, entire sections are now wrong.

Here's where the current law stands on what Georgia notaries can do, what they can't, and what changed.

The Governing Statutes

Georgia notary law lives primarily in O.C.G.A. Title 45, Chapter 17 — the chapter that covers notaries public, their appointment, their duties, and their limitations. Related provisions appear in:

• O.C.G.A. § 44-2-2 — the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (URPERA), which authorizes In-Person Electronic Notarization (IPEN)
• O.C.G.A. Title 15 — Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) provisions that directly constrain notary activities in real estate
• House Bill 1292 (effective January 1, 2025) — the most significant recent amendment, adding mandatory training and the self-filer journal requirement

The GSCCCA maintains general notary information pages on its website, but there is no single published "Georgia Notary Public Handbook" in the way some states issue bound handbooks. The GSCCCA's eLearn training course is the closest equivalent — it walks through the core statutes and practical responsibilities. The official statutes themselves are available through the Georgia General Assembly's website.

What a Georgia Notary Can Do

A Georgia notary public is authorized to perform these specific acts within the state's borders:

• Administer oaths and affirmations — swearing in witnesses, administering oaths for affidavits
• Take acknowledgments — verifying that a signer is appearing voluntarily and confirming their identity
• Attest signatures — witnessing the execution of documents in the notary's presence
• Execute jurats — certifying that a signer personally appeared, was identified, and signed under oath
• Certify copies — limited to non-government documents (notaries cannot certify copies of birth certificates, death certificates, or other vital records)

The signer must be physically present in the same room as the notary for every notarial act. Georgia does not authorize remote online notarization (RON) for Georgia-commissioned notaries — performing a notarization via video call is a violation of law.

What Changed Under House Bill 1292

HB 1292 made three concrete changes effective January 1, 2025:

1. Mandatory training for all applicants. Every first-time and renewing notary must complete the GSCCCA's online training course before the county clerk will process their application. Before 2025, there was no formal training requirement at the state level.

2. The self-filer journal mandate. Notaries must now maintain a written paper or secure electronic journal when notarizing real estate documents presented by a "self-filer" — an individual filing their own deed, mortgage, lien, or other real property instrument who is not represented by an active Georgia attorney, licensed title insurance agent, licensed real estate professional, agent of a federally insured bank or credit union, agent of a licensed or exempt mortgage lender or servicer, public official acting in official duties, or licensed professional land surveyor.

The journal must capture eight specific data points for each self-filer transaction:

1. The self-filer's full legal name
2. Physical address
3. Telephone number
4. Date, time, and location of the notarization
5. Type of government-issued photo ID presented
6. Identifying details or serial numbers from the ID
7. Whether identity was verified through personal knowledge
8. The self-filer's signature captured directly in the journal

3. Modernized identification standards. HB 1292 updated the acceptable forms of identification for notarial acts to reflect current ID formats and security features.

The driving force behind these changes was real estate fraud prevention. Self-filed deed transfers — where someone walks a quitclaim deed or transfer document into the clerk's office without attorney involvement — had become a vector for property theft.

Prohibited Acts and Legal Boundaries

Georgia law explicitly prohibits notaries from:

Providing legal advice. A notary cannot explain the meaning or legal effect of a document to a signer. You can read the document's title and confirm what type of notarial act is being requested, but offering interpretation crosses into legal advice.

Conducting real estate closings. Georgia is an attorney-closing state. Under O.C.G.A. Title 15, the execution of real estate closings, the preparation of transfer deeds, and the drafting of mortgages constitute the practice of law. A non-lawyer notary who independently conducts a real estate closing — even a "witness-only" closing where they just watch someone sign — is engaging in the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL). First offense: misdemeanor. Repeat offenses: felony.

Notarizing without physical presence. The signer must be in the same room. Webcam, video call, and remote notarizations are not authorized for Georgia-commissioned notaries, despite what some commercial platforms advertise.

Notarizing for yourself. A notary cannot notarize their own signature on any document.

Notarizing without proper identification. If the signer can't produce acceptable government-issued photo ID and isn't personally known to the notary, the notarization cannot proceed.

The $2 Fee Cap

Georgia law caps the statutory notarization fee at $2 per notarial act. This applies to every type of notarial act — acknowledgments, jurats, oaths, and affirmations.

This is the fee for the notarization itself. Mobile notaries and signing agents can charge a separate travel or convenience fee on top of the $2 statutory cap if it is disclosed to and agreed upon by the signer in advance, and there's no state limit on that travel fee. The distinction matters: you can charge $100 to drive to someone's house at 9 PM, but the notarization line item on any receipt must reflect $2 per act.

Employers can prohibit their employee-notaries from charging the $2 fee during work hours, and many do — employer-paid notaries often notarize for free as part of their job duties.

Seal and Commission Duration

A notary commission lasts exactly four years from the date of appointment. The commission is tied to the county of residence — if you move to a different county, you need to apply for a new commission in the new county.

The official seal must display the notary's commissioned name, "Notary Public," the commissioning county, and "Georgia" or "GA." An expiration date is not a statutory requirement, though including it is recommended for documents sent out of state. Lost or stolen seals must be reported to the county clerk and the GSCCCA within 10 days.

For the complete breakdown of Georgia notary law as it applies to your commission — including the self-filer journal checklist and county-specific rules — the Georgia Notary Commission Guide consolidates everything into one reference.

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