Updated 6-29-23. For more recent and in-depth information on the new Illinois policies, check out How Illinois enacted its sweeping new Notary laws.
Updated 12-10-21. Illinois Notaries can expect some big changes, from keeping a journal and registering to perform RONs, to an increase in the fees they can charge and more when a new law takes effect. Below, we dive into the changes to come under Senate Bill 2664. The law will take effect when the Secretary of State publishes a notice that administrative rules to implement the law have been filed, or on January 1, 2022, whichever is later. Since a notice that rules have been adopted has not yet been filed, the effective date will be sometime after January 1, 2022. The NNA will update this article when the rules are published and will alert Illinois Notaries when we confirm the exact effective date.
Commission qualifications
Minor tweaks to the qualifications for a Notary commission will go into effect under the new law. Applicants must "be proficient in English" and not have had a "prior commission revocation or suspension due to a finding or decision by the Secretary of State."
Journal and itemized receipts
Keeping a journal once was a best practice in Illinois. Under the new law, Notaries will be required to keep a journal regardless if they charge fees. More than one journal may be used, and a journal can be paper or electronic.
Notaries who charge fees will be required to provide itemized receipts to signers that contain the amount charged. Itemized receipts can provide important evidence that a Notary followed the law in charging and collecting fees for notarial acts. The journal you choose to use may already include receipts, but if not, purchasing and using a receipt book is an easy way to keep your records organized. Fees for notarial acts must be listed separately from any other charges when the law takes effect.
Remote notarization
The new law will authorize Illinois Notaries to perform remote notarizations of both paper and electronic documents. If you have a Notary commission you'll be able to perform remote ink-signed notarizations (RIN) on paper documents without registering to become an electronic Notary. Notaries interested in offering remote online notarization services on electronic documents must complete a course of study, pass an exam, and obtain a $25,000 surety bond. There will be two types of commissions — a traditional Notary Public commission and Electronic Notary Public commission — but an applicant may apply for both at the same time.
You can find more information on becoming a remote online Notary in Illinois in this guide.
Bond for remote notarial acts
Current Notaries applying to perform remote online notarizations will need a higher bond than the $5,000 bond they hold for performing traditional notarizations. The bond for remote online notarizations will be $25,000. Notaries can choose to have a $5,000 bond for their Notary commission and a $25,000 bond for their electronic Notary commission, or combine the two into a single bond of $30,000.
Training and exam
The new law authorizes the Secretary of State to require applicants for both a Notary and electronic Notary commission to take a course of study approved by the Secretary of State and pass an exam. We will update this article when the Secretary of State adopts rules on the education and exam requirements. Until then, please refer to our analysis of SB 2664 for any questions you may have.
Digital Certificate, eSeal
For remote online notarizations, Notaries must obtain a digital certificate and an electronic seal (eSeal). The eSeal must include the following elements:
- Notary Public's name
- Commission number
- Jurisdiction
- Commission expiration date
Electronic seals must resemble your traditional Notary seal and be immediately perceptible and reproducible.
Increased Notary fees
Notaries can start charging $5 per paper notarization when the new law takes effect. Remote Notaries will be able to charge up to $25 per electronic notarization. A Notary can charge a reasonable fee to recover any cost of providing a copy of a journal entry or audio-video recording. Remember to provide signers with an itemized receipt every time you charge a fee.
Coming July 1, 2022
While the effective date for most of Senate Bill 2664 is not yet known, the application fee for a traditional Notary Public commission will increase to $15 on July 1, 2022. Notaries wishing to perform remote online notarizations must pay a separate $25 fee as part of the commissioning process.
Rachel Fraser is the Content Marketing Specialist at the National Notary Association.