Iowa Notary Overview

The responsibilities of an Iowa Notary Public are critical to the legal, business, financial, and real estate communities in this state. A Notary Public is a person commissioned by the Secretary of State to serve the public as an impartial and unbiased witness by identifying persons who come before the Notary. The most common function of the Notary is to witness and attest that a person signing a document is authentic.

The term of the Iowa notary public is 3 years for a resident, and 1 year for a non-resident.

Iowa Notary Qualifications

To become an Iowa notary, you must:

• Be 18 years of age or older
• Be a resident of Iowa or work in Iowa and live in a bordering state
• Not have a serious criminal history

Iowa Notary Application Process

The Iowa Secretary of State is the commissioning authority for notaries public in Iowa. To become a notary, you must complete a simple 1-page application and submit it to the Secretary of State, along with a $30 application fee. Once you have received your commission, you must purchase an Iowa notary stamp and, preferrably, a notary journal. These supplies can be purchased from Iowa Notary Supply, a service of Notary Rotary, a nationwide notary organization based in Des Moines.

Notary errors and omissions insurance is also strongly recommended to help protect yourself from lawsuits.