How to Become a Notary in Mississippi (2026): Requirements, Cost & Steps

Requirements verified July 19, 2026 against Mississippi Secretary of State

Mississippi notaries file a $25 application with the Secretary of State along with a $5,000 surety bond and a notarized oath of office — there is no exam or required course. Everything is filed at the state level, and the commission lasts four years.

Mississippi rebuilt its notary law on July 1, 2021, when the Revised Mississippi Law on Notarial Acts took effect — so ignore older guides that describe the pre-2021 rules. The current process is entirely state-level: a $25 notarized application (Form NP 001), a $5,000 surety bond, and a constitutional oath of office all go to the Secretary of State's Business Services Division, with no county filing at all. The oath step has a twist you won't see in many states: you swear it before another Mississippi notary.

Costs and waiting are both light. Between the fee, bond premium, stamp, and journal you'll usually spend $75–$125, and the SOS says complete applications are processed in under a week, with your commission delivered by email. The four-year commission is pegged to your bond's expiration date, and each renewal is a full re-application — new bond and new oath included, filed starting 90 days before the old term ends.

The 2021 law also made journals mandatory for every notarization and standardized the stamp (six required elements, no abbreviations, no state seal). Fees are capped at $5 per signature, so in-person notarizing is more service than income; remote notarization — permanent in Mississippi since 2021 via an email notification to the SOS — allows up to $30 per act including the technology charge, which is where the economics improve.

Who can become a notary in Mississippi?

• Age: at least 18 years old.
• Residency: You must be a Mississippi resident who has lived in your county of residence for more than 30 days before applying. Moving out of state is treated as an automatic resignation of the commission — you must notify the Secretary of State within 30 days.
• Background: The application requires a sworn declaration that you have never been convicted of a felony and are not presently incarcerated or on parole. It also requires declaring you have never had a notary commission denied, revoked, suspended, or restricted in any state. If your record is complicated, talk to the Secretary of State's notary staff (601-359-1615) before paying.
• U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident (green card holder).
• Able to read and write English.
• Your commission name must include your surname plus at least the initials of your first and middle names, and your application signature must be legible or accompanied by a printed name.

How to apply: step by step

1. Complete the Application for Notary Public Commission (SOS Form NP 001) on the Mississippi Secretary of State's forms page. The application itself must be notarized, so you'll visit an existing notary along the way.
2. Buy a $5,000 surety bond for a four-year term from a surety licensed by the Mississippi Department of Insurance. If you apply without the bond, the SOS can send you a pre-commission document showing the exact start and end dates the bond must cover. The bond must reach the SOS within 60 days of your application date or the application is rejected.
3. Take the oath of office prescribed by Section 268 of the Mississippi Constitution in front of a Mississippi notary public and complete the oath form (filed with the Official Notary Public Bond paperwork, SOS Form NP 003).
4. File the application, bond, oath, and $25 application fee with the Secretary of State's Business Services Division. The SOS says a complete package is typically processed in under a week, and since November 2021 commissions are delivered by email.
5. After your commission arrives, order your official stamp from a vendor — you must give the vendor a copy of your commission certificate, and the stamp must show 'State of Mississippi,' your name as commissioned, 'Notary Public,' your county, your expiration date, and your commission number.
6. Set up your journal before your first notarization. Mississippi requires every notarial act to be recorded in a journal (bound paper book or a compliant electronic journal).

How long it takes: Fast by state standards: the SOS says a complete application package (application, bond, oath, fee) is generally processed in less than a week, with the commission emailed to you.

What it costs in Mississippi

Exam and training

Mississippi does not require an exam or a mandatory course. No training requirement. The SOS publishes rules and FAQs; private courses are optional.

Can you notarize online in Mississippi? RON allowed

Yes — Mississippi authorizes remote online notarization (RON). Remote notarization became permanent under HB 1156 (2020), effective July 1, 2021, alongside the Revised Mississippi Law on Notarial Acts (Miss. Code Ann. § 25-34-51 et seq.). The SOS's remote-notary fee guidance caps the total charge at $30 per remote act.

To add RON to your commission: Hold a current Mississippi commission in good standing, then notify the Secretary of State before your first remote act by emailing the Remote Notary Notification form to remotenotary@sos.ms.gov. The form has you identify your communication-technology vendor and certify that it lets you see and hear the signer in real time, verify identity, and record the entire transaction; you must notify the SOS if you switch vendors, and each remote act must be logged in your journal with its recording retained. The posted form still cites the 2020 executive order that preceded the permanent statute, so confirm the current packet with the SOS. Separate rules cover in-person electronic notarization, which needs its own SOS application and an approved e-notarization system.

Full guide: how to become a remote online notary.

After you're commissioned

Get your stamp and journal. Required on every paper notarization. Under the current SOS rules the stamp must show, in order: 'State of Mississippi,' your name as commissioned, 'Notary Public,' your county, your commission expiration date, and your SOS-assigned commission number. No abbreviations are allowed, the stamp must not contain the Mississippi state seal, and a non-inking embosser doesn't count as the official stamp. You may only order the stamp after you receive your commission — vendors require a copy of the certificate. Report a lost or stolen stamping device to the SOS within 10 days; the replacement must look different from the original. See the new-notary supplies checklist and Mississippi stamp requirements before you order.

What you can charge: Mississippi caps notary fees at $5 per signature. SOS rules cap fees at $5 per signature for acknowledgments, jurats, and signature witnessings, and $5 per person for oaths without a signature. Travel fees are allowed only if agreed in advance and explained as separate and not set by law. Notaries must waive the fee for notarizing absentee-ballot applications and ballots. For remote notarizations, the SOS notification form allows a total of up to $30 per act (the $5 notarial fee plus the technology charge).

E&O insurance: Not required. The $5,000 bond protects the public and the surety can recover from you personally, so optional errors-and-omissions coverage is what shields the notary.

Earning more with your commission

Most new notaries who turn the commission into real income do it through loan signings — notarizing mortgage document packages for title companies. If that interests you, start with what a loan signing agent actually does and earns. Loan signing agent guide

Mississippi notary FAQ