 | Colorado Notary Handbook
VIII. Notarial Certificate or Notarization
…The notary’s seal, either embossed or rubber-stamped. The seal must be just as described in [12-55-112 (2) C.R.S.]. A notary should not use any seal until s/he has personally checked it against both the commission certificate and the 112 (2) requirements.
Seals are manufactured and sold by private companies, not by the state. The manufacturer may not be familiar with Colorado’s seal requirements, and may not have seen the notary’s commission certificate. A notary’s name, or some other word may be misspelled, or there may be unauthorized additions to the seal. Have any mistakes corrected before using the seal.
(Note: Colorado law does not have any size, shape, or color of ink restrictions for notary seals, but consider your clients and the public at large before deciding on a size too small to read, a bizarre color or shape, or any other unusual variant. Also, the law has no preference for one type of seal over the other. Some notaries prefer an embosser because it is traditional and better accepted by some clients, or because it is harder to reproduce, and copies do not look like originals. Some prefer a rubber stamp because copies do look like originals, and the seal is easy to read in the copy without being rubbed with the side of a pencil lead or otherwise “raised.”)...
Colorado Notary Law
- …
- Under or near such notary's official signature on every
notary certificate, a notary public shall rubber stamp or emboss clearly and legibly such notary's official seal. The official notary seal shall contain only the outline of the seal, the name of the notary, exactly as such notary writes his or her official signature, the words STATE OF COLORADO, and the words "NOTARY PUBLIC".
- Under or near such notary's official signature on every
notary certificate, a notary public shall write or stamp "my commission expires (commission expiration date)".
- Every notary public may provide, keep, and use a seal
embosser engraved to show such notary's name and the words
NOTARY PUBLIC and "STATE OF COLORADO". The indenta-
tions made by the seal embosser shall not be applied on the document where the notary certificate appears in a manner that will render illegible or incapable of photographic reproduction any of the printed marks or writing.
Every notary public shall send or have delivered notice to the secretary of state within thirty days after the notary loses or misplaces such notary's journal of notarial acts, or official seal, or the notary becomes aware that any other person has electronic control of his or her electronic signature. The fee payable to the secretary of state for recording notice of a lost journal, or seal, or that another person has electronic control of a notary's electronic signature shall be determined and collected pursuant to section 24-21-104 (3), C.R.S. |