The North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State Notary Public Section regulates and defines North Carolina Notary Public policy; it educates, tests, qualifies and commissions notaries public. North Carolina Notaries Public facilitate commerce when they perform the following notarial acts:
- Acknowledge signatures;
- Administer oaths and affirmations, and;
- Verify or prove signatures.
The program educates notaries about legal, ethical and procedural requirements of notarial acts.
North Carolina Notaries Public eligibility criteria (N.C.G.S. Chapter 10B) include:
- Be at least 18 years of age or legally emancipated as defined in Article 35 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes.
- Reside or have a regular place of work or business in this State
- Reside legally in the United States.
- Speak, read, and write the English language.
- Possess a high school diploma or equivalent.
- Pass the course of instruction described in Chapter 10B, unless the person is a licensed member of the North Carolina State Bar.
- Purchase and keep as a reference the most recent manual approved by the Secretary that describes the duties and authority of notaries public.
- Submit an application containing no significant misstatement or omission of fact. Every application shall include the signature of the applicant written with pen and ink, and the signature shall be acknowledged by the applicant before a person authorized to administer oaths.
Obtain the recommendation of one publicly elected official in North Carolina and submit the recommendation with the application. The requirement of this subdivision shall not apply to any applicant who seeks to receive the oath of office from the register of deeds of a county where more than 15,000 active notaries public are on record on January 1 of the year when the application is filed."
