A surety bond is a form of insurance that protects the public from mistakes you may make in the performance of your official duties as a notary. If you perform an illegal notarization, you will be held personally liable for the act.
You can get a surety bond from most insurance companies in the state. It must be in the sum of $10,000 and written for a term of four years. The effective date of the surety bond must be within 30 days of the date that the Secretary of State’s Office receives it.
- Each notary public shall submit an application, a signed oath of office, and an official bond in the amount of $10,000 for each 4-year term of office. The application and bond must be approved by the secretary of state. Upon the approval of the application and the bond, the payment of fees, and the filing in the office of the secretary of state of the official oath of the notary public, the secretary of state may issue a commission.
- The effective date of the surety bond and the notary commission must be the same.
- All required fees and required and properly completed documents must be submitted to the office of the secretary of state within 30 days before or within 30 days after the effective date of the surety bond.
History: En. Secs. 324-325, Rev. C. 1907; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 103, L. 1909; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 7, L. 1921; re-en. Sec. 394, R.C.M. 1921; Cal. Pol. C. Sec. 799; re-en. Sec. 394, R.C.M. 1935; R.C.M. 1947, 56-110; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 80, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 16, Ch. 192, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 161, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 12, L. 2003.
1-5-406. Liabilities on official bond.
For the official misconduct or neglect of a notary public, he and the sureties on his official bond are liable to the parties injured thereby for all damages sustained.
