NOTARY PUBLIC INFORMATION

The powers and duties of notaries are chiefly found in Title 35 of the Revised Statutes of Louisiana.

NOTARY EXAM:

Louisiana requires a notary examination in order for a person to become qualified as a notary. A person can function as a notary or exercise notarial powers only within the parish or parishes in which he or she is qualified to serve. Lawyers who are notaries can exercise all their powers statewide.

NOTARY QUALIFICATIONS:

Notarial qualifications include being 18 years of age, a registered voter, and a resident citizen of the parish in which he or she resides. All parishes waive the notary test for lawyers, with the exception of Orleans Parish.

NOTARIAL AUTHORITY:

Notaries have the power, within their respective parishes, to make inventories, appraisals, partitions and affidavits of correction, draft instruments, hold family meetings, receive acknowledgments, and affix seals upon the effects of deceased persons. All acts executed by a notary, in conformity with the provisions of Article 2234 of the Civil Code, shall be authentic acts.

NOTARY IDENTIFICATION NUMBER:

R.S. 35:12, as amended, provides that every document notarized in this state shall bear the notary identification number assigned by the secretary of state. The number shall be typed or printed legibly and placed next to the typed or printed name of the notary.

No person other than a regularly commissioned notary public shall use the title “Notary Public”. Every person otherwise given notarial powers or authorized as an ex-officio notary shall clearly indicate his actual position or title from which his authority to notarize is derived, in addition to his notary identification number.

ANNUAL REPORT:

All non-attorney notaries, except ex-officio notaries, shall file an annual report with the secretary of state on a form developed and mailed, or provided by electronic means, by the secretary of state pursuant to R.S. 35:216(2)(a), together with payment of the filing fee established by the secretary of state pursuant to R.S. 35:216(3). The annual report shall be completed in full and signed by the notary.

VIOLATION OF DUTIES:

If a notary violates his duties, the local district judges of the parish which originally certified the notary may suspend his or her right to serve as a notary. All notaries, except attorneys in good standing, must provide a $10,000.00 surety bond, payable to the Governor.

NOTARY EXAM FOR NATCHITOCHES PARISH:

Submit and application to the appropriate district court. J. Christian Henry, Attorney at Law, may be contacted by telephone at (318)3524037. You may to to the website of the Secretary of State www.sos.louisiana.gov for additional information.

PETITION TO THE COURT:

Upon completion of the notary exam, a petition to the Tenth Judicial District Court is then filed by the applicant for Notary Public. Upon granting by the court, oath is taken and bond filed with the Clerk of Court and Secretary of State.

Fees required for filing Petition to be certified as notary:

Fees required for filing a notary bond renewal:

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For More Information Call (318) 352-8152

© 2004 Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Courts office