Notaries Public
Appointment and Commissioning
Notaries
in the State of Alabama are appointed and commissioned by the probate judges
of the various counties. The probate judge reports to the Secretary of State
the name, county, date of issuance and date of expiration of the commission
of each notary appointed and commissioned under applicable law.
For
information on being appointed a notary public, please contact the probate
judge for your county. Click
here to
obtain contact information for him or her.
Please note that the Secretary of State does not appoint or commission
notaries. However, the records filed with this office regarding the
appointment and commissioning of notaries are a matter of public record and
are available for review by the general public. You can browse the list of
commissioned notaries by viewing our
government records.
Duties and Responsibilities
The
duties and responsibilities of notaries are spelled out in the Code of
Alabama. The
statutes governing notaries are available for review on line, courtesy
of the Alabama
Legislature.
 Further,
in 1995, the Attorney General's office issued an
Opinion to the Secretary of State that discusses the
appointment, commission, qualifications, bond and
seal of notaries public in Alabama. The Opinion is
available from the Attorney General's web site as an
Adobe Acrobat file. Click to review
Attorney General Opinion 95-00289. Please note that you must have the
FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this document.
Authentication of Notarial Signature and Seal
Information on authentication of the signature and seal of a notary public
is available by clicking
here.
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