The Hawaii Notary Public examination is the written, closed-book examination administered by the Department of the Attorney General that an approved applicant for a Hawaii notary public commission must pass. In the Attorney General’s published form: after approval of an applicant by the Attorney General, the applicant is required to take a written closed-book examination covering the statutory laws and administrative rules that apply to notaries public, as well as practical aspects of a notary’s practice, and a notary’s duties and responsibilities — and the passing score is 80 percent. Each examination costs $10. The commission that follows runs four years, rests on a $1,000 surety bond approved by a circuit court judge, and is Hawaii’s alone in this catalog family: the commissioning authority is the Attorney General, not a secretary of state. Hawaii requires no education course for this commission.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
What this commission is
A Hawaii notary public is a public officer commissioned by the Attorney General of Hawaii — the Notary Public Program sits in the Department of the Attorney General in Honolulu, and every step of the route, from application to examination to the record books deposited at the end of a term, runs through that department — to perform notarial acts anywhere in the State of Hawaii for a term of four years, under Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 456 and Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 5-11. The Attorney General’s Notary Public Manual states the office’s functions: administering oaths; witnessing the signing of documents; attesting to the identity of the signers of a document; noting protests; and taking acknowledgments of documents. A notary commissioned in connection with an employer’s work is nonetheless required to provide notarial service to the general public. The commission does not authorise the notary to practise law, and the Manual is direct that a notary who is not a licensed attorney may not prepare legal documents or advise on their preparation.
Hawaii’s gate to that office has a sequence no candidate can reorder, and this page states it at the top because third-party material routinely flattens it into a test that can simply be booked. It cannot. The application is filed first, online, with a character letter, a justification letter, and a $20 application fee; the Attorney General approves or does not; only an approved applicant schedules the written, closed-book examination, sits it at a designated location — on Oahu at least once a month, on the neighbor islands periodically — and learns the result in writing within thirty calendar days. Around the examination sit the rest of the statutory gate: the oath of office filed in the Department of the Attorney General, the $1,000 official bond approved by a judge of the circuit court, and, forthwith after commissioning, the filing of a copy of the commission, an impression of the seal, and a specimen signature with the clerk of the circuit court. The companion Hawaii Notary Public Exam Guide sets out the law, the route, and the sitting in detail.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Examination | Hawaii Notary Public examination — Department of the Attorney General, Notary Public Program; a written, closed-book examination taken after the Attorney General has approved the application |
| Commission | Notary public, commissioned by the Attorney General; term of four years from the date of commission; notarial acts may be performed only in the State of Hawaii |
| Governing law | Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 456 (Notaries Public) and Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 5-11 (Notaries Public); the Attorney General’s study source is the Notary Public Manual, revised August 2022 |
| Who must take it | Every person to whom a notary public commission is issued: Hawaii Administrative Rules section 5-11-32(a) provides that no commission shall be issued unless the person pays the examination fee and takes and passes the written examination prescribed by the Attorney General. No education course is required, and no attorney exemption from the examination appears in the Attorney General’s published requirements, the Manual, or Chapter 5-11 in the sources read |
| Format | Written, closed-book. The Attorney General publishes no question count and no time limit for the examination in the sources read, and this page prints neither |
| Passing standard | In the Manual’s published form: the passing score is 80 percent. In the rule’s published form (section 5-11-32(a)): the minimum passing score is eighty per cent |
| Examination fee | Hawaii fee: $10 for each examination (Hawaii Administrative Rules section 5-11-46(a)(7)), charged by the Attorney General |
| Scheduling and sittings | Scheduled by the approved applicant through the notary account’s exam scheduler at notary.ehawaii.gov, for a designated location in the county in which the applicant resides. The examination is given on Oahu at least once a month, and on the neighbor islands periodically; dates and locations are subject to change |
| Results | The Attorney General notifies the applicant in writing of the examination result within thirty calendar days of the examination (section 5-11-32(d)) |
| Reexamination | An applicant who fails may take a reexamination without a new application if the applicant requests, pays the examination fee, and reschedules within fourteen calendar days of the failure notification; otherwise a new application with the applicable application and examination fees is required. An applicant who fails twice shall wait ninety days from the date of the last examination to reapply (section 5-11-32(e)–(f)) |
| Missed sittings | Rescheduling more than forty-eight hours before the examination costs $15; less than forty-eight hours, $20. Failure to appear without advance notice requires a new application with updated supporting letters and a $25 no-show examination fee (section 5-11-32(b); section 5-11-46) |
| Education | No education course is required. The published study materials are the Notary Public Manual, Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 5-11, and Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 456 |
| Bond and oath | A $1,000 official surety bond, executed at the notary’s own expense before entering on the duties of office and approved by a judge of the circuit court of the circuit in which the notary resides; and an oath for the faithful discharge of the notary’s duties, filed in the Department of the Attorney General |
| Administrator | Department of the Attorney General (Notary Public Program), State of Hawaii. PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Department of the Attorney General |
What the examination covers
The Attorney General publishes no topic weights for the examination, and this page prints none. The examination’s legal definition is Hawaii Administrative Rules section 5-11-33: the examination tests whether applicants have a reasonable knowledge of the general principles and practices of notary public duties, and the laws and rules pertaining to notaries public, including Chapter 456, Hawaii Revised Statutes, sections 502-41 to 502-74, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and Chapter 5-11 itself. The Attorney General’s Notaries Public page publishes a wider study list for the same sitting — Hawaii Revised Statutes sections 456-1 to 456-21, 502-41 to 502-46, 502-48 to 502-84, 603-1, and 621-12 and 621-13 — and the areas below follow the Manual that organises that law for candidates. Both scopes are the Attorney General’s; the guide states each in its own place and does not merge them.
Commissioning, tenure, and the Attorney General’s authority — Chapter 456 and Chapter 5-11, Subchapter 1
The frame every other topic hangs on: the Attorney General commissions such number of notaries as the Attorney General deems necessary for the public good and convenience; the term is four years; a commission may be removed for cause after due hearing, and revoked or disciplined where a change in the notary’s office, occupation, residence, or employment makes the commission no longer necessary; and no person may act as a notary public, or hold out as one, without a current commission previously obtained from the Attorney General (section 5-11-2). Conduct is governed by Chapter 456, Chapter 5-11, and the notary public code of professional responsibility the rules adopt. The renewal, forfeiture, suspension, and resignation machinery of sections 5-11-12 to 5-11-18 — the four-year term, forfeiture for a knowing failure to renew, restoration, surrender of certificate, seal, and record book within ninety days — is examined as the law the candidate will live under from the first act.
The notarial acts: acknowledgments, oaths and jurats, witnessing, identity, and protests
The Manual’s working core, drawn from sections 456-10 to 456-17 and Chapter 5-11, Subchapter 1. An acknowledgment is the signer’s formal declaration, before the notary, that the execution of the instrument was the signer’s free act and deed; an oath or affirmation is the solemn pledge attesting the truth of a statement, and an affidavit is that oath in writing, completed by the jurat that records that the affiant appeared, swore, and signed. Every acknowledgment or jurat must be evidenced by a certificate signed and dated by the notary (section 5-11-8). Identity runs on exactly three published routes (section 5-11-7): the signer is personally known to the notary; is proved by the oath or affirmation of a credible witness known to the notary; or produces a current identification card or document issued by the United States, this State, any other state, or a national government that contains the bearer’s photograph and signature. Personal appearance admits no substitute for an in-person act: the Manual states that notarization over the telephone is absolutely forbidden, and that remotely located individuals may be served only by a commissioned remote online notary public.
The certificate, the seal, the signature, and the record book
Hawaii examines its paperwork exactly. The certificate under section 5-11-8 carries the notary’s printed name, official stamp or seal, and signature, the jurisdiction in which the act is performed, and the date of the notarization, with the document identified close in proximity to the acknowledgment or jurat; for filing with the Bureau of Conveyances, the certificate form under sections 502-41 and following adds the document date, the number of pages, the circuit, and a description of the document. The seal is prescribed to the fraction of an inch: circular, not over two inches in diameter, with a serrated or milled edge border, showing the notary’s name and commission number and the words “notary public” and “State of Hawaii” (section 5-11-5). The official signature is signed as the name appears on the seal, with the typed or printed name and the commission expiration date always added. The notarial record book — bound with a soft cover, not over eleven inches by sixteen and one-half inches when fully opened, pages consecutively numbered — records every act at length with the six entries the statute prescribes, and is deposited with the Attorney General within ninety days of the end of the commission.
Duties, disqualifications, liability, and the fraud-prevention offences
The judgment half of the paper. A notary performs official duties with integrity, diligence, and skill, and the duty runs to everyone affected by the act, not only the person served. A notary may not act in a matter in which the notary has a personal or beneficial interest, may never notarize the notary’s own signature, and — under section 456-14 — may act for a corporation, trust company, or bank the notary serves only within that section’s limits, never where the notary is individually a party to the instrument; mere relationship to a party does not disqualify. The Manual works the hard edges: the signer who cannot sign (section 456-19, signature by the notary with the prescribed statement and a doctor’s certificate; signing by mark), the document in a language the notary or the parties do not understand, the apparently incompetent signer, and interlineations, erasures, and other changes, which the notary initials in the margin. Liability is stated in both registers: civilly, the notary and the surety on the bond answer for misconduct, neglect, or breach of the bond’s conditions; criminally, the Manual names extortion, forgery, perjury, and subornation, and Act 175, Session Laws of Hawaii 2008, added the offences of failure to verify identity and signature (section 456-20) and failure to authenticate with a certification statement (section 456-21).
Fees, in both directions
Two schedules, both examinable, and routinely confused with each other. What a notary may charge the public is fixed by section 456-17: $5 for noting a protest of mercantile paper, $5 for each notice and certified copy of protest, $5 for every deposition or official certificate, $5 for administering an oath including its certificate, and $5 for taking any acknowledgment, for each party signing — with $2.50 increments for duplicate originals beyond the copies the base fee covers, and no charge for an oath of loyalty. An overcharge is a violation of law; charging less is permitted. What the Attorney General charges the notary is fixed by section 5-11-46: the $20 application fee, the $10 examination fee, the $100 issuance fee, and the renewal, restoration, rescheduling, and change fees stated in the route below. Every figure in this paragraph is a Hawaii fee published by the Attorney General or by statute — none is a PassProfessor charge.
Jurisdiction, venue, and the four circuits
A Hawaii commission runs only in Hawaii. The Manual’s venue teaching is pure Hawaii: the State is divided into four judicial circuits under section 603-1 — the first (the island of Oahu and the district of Kalawao on Molokai; venue “City and County of Honolulu”), the second (Maui, Molokai except Kalawao, Lanai, Kahoolawe, and Molokini; venue “County of Maui”), the third (the island of Hawaii; venue “County of Hawaii”), and the fifth (Kauai and Niihau; venue “County of Kauai”). There is no fourth circuit, and the venue named in a certificate must be the circuit where the act is performed — a detail with no mainland analogue, examined precisely because it cannot be guessed from other states’ practice.
The route, in order
Step 1 — Meet the qualifications, and study from the Attorney General’s sources
To be eligible for a Hawaii notary public commission an applicant must be at least 18 years old; be a Hawaii resident; and be a United States citizen, or a national or permanent resident alien of the United States who diligently seeks citizenship upon becoming eligible to apply for United States citizenship. No education course stands between the applicant and the examination. The study sources are the Attorney General’s own: the Notary Public Manual, Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 5-11, and Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 456 — the Commission Applications guidance names exactly those three. One currency caution belongs in this step: the Attorney General’s Notaries Public page records that Act 54, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, took effect January 1, 2021, and directs notaries to read the most recent updates to the statute, with revisions to the administrative rules forthcoming — the Manual’s current edition is dated August 2022.
Step 2 — Apply online, with both letters and the $20 fee
Create an eHawaii.gov account and apply online at notary.ehawaii.gov. A complete application carries: the non-refundable $20 application fee required by section 5-11-46 (there is no fee for government notaries public); a letter of character recommendation, written by a reputable resident of Hawaii other than an employer or a relative, who can attest from past association to the applicant’s honesty, trustworthiness, financial integrity, and moral character, with a contact number or email address; and a letter of justification stating in detail the reasons for applying, the estimated number of notarial acts, and the types of documents to be notarized, and that the notary public will serve the general public — prepared by an officer of the corporation or a partner of the organization employing the applicant, or by the applicant if self-employed. For a government notary public, the justification letter comes from the head of the department where the applicant is employed. The application must itself be properly notarized by a notary public currently commissioned in Hawaii (section 5-11-21(d)). An application not completed, with its documents, within ninety days of first filing may be considered abandoned (section 5-11-22(b)). The Attorney General’s Notaries Public page states that the Attorney General acts on a complete application within six months of filing.
Step 3 — On approval, schedule the examination through the notary account
Issuance of a commission depends on approval of the application by the Attorney General and the applicant’s successful passing of the written examination. Approval is notified by email; the approved applicant logs in to the notary account and schedules with the notary exam scheduler, and an exam notification letter follows with the date, time, and location — a designated location in the county in which the applicant resides. The examination is given on Oahu at least once a month, and on the neighbor islands periodically; dates and locations are subject to change. The scheduling fees are part of the bargain and are published: rescheduling more than forty-eight hours ahead costs $15, less than forty-eight hours ahead costs $20, and failure to appear without advance notice requires a new application with updated supporting letters plus a $25 no-show examination fee.
Step 4 — Sit the written, closed-book examination, and pay the $10 examination fee
No commission is issued unless the applicant pays the examination fee and takes and passes the written examination prescribed by the Attorney General (section 5-11-32(a)). The examination is written and closed-book, covering the statutory laws and administrative rules that apply to notaries public in Hawaii, the practical aspects of a notary’s practice, and a notary’s duties and responsibilities. The standard is the published one: the passing score is 80 percent. The Attorney General notifies the applicant in writing of the result within thirty calendar days. A fail is recoverable on a clock, not at leisure: a reexamination without a new application must be requested, paid for, and rescheduled within fourteen calendar days of the failure notification; after that window, a new application with the applicable fees is required; and an applicant who fails twice waits ninety days from the date of the last examination before reapplying.
Step 5 — Pay the $100 issuance fee, take the oath, and execute the $1,000 bond
On passing, the commission issues on payment of the $100 issuance fee (section 5-11-46(a)(5)) — a Hawaii fee charged by the Attorney General. Before entering on the duties of office, the notary takes and subscribes the oath for the faithful discharge of the notary’s duties, filed in the Department of the Attorney General, and executes, at the notary’s own expense, the official surety bond of $1,000: the bond must be approved by a judge of the circuit court of the circuit in which the notary resides, written by a surety company authorised to do business in the State, with the State as obligee, and after approval it is deposited and kept on file in the office of the clerk of that circuit court. Failure to pick up the commission certificate from the Attorney General within sixty days of notification that it is available carries a further $40 fee under section 5-11-46.
Step 6 — File the commission copy with the circuit court clerk, and obtain the seal
Forthwith after being commissioned, the notary files a photocopy of the commission, an impression of the seal, and a specimen of the official signature with the clerk of the circuit court of the circuit in which the notary resides — the filing that lets the clerk authenticate the notary’s acts thereafter — and may file the same documents with any other circuit’s clerk. The seal is obtained at the notary’s or the notary’s company’s expense and kept constantly: circular, not over two inches in diameter, serrated or milled edge, name, commission number, “notary public,” “State of Hawaii.”
Step 7 — Serve the four-year term, keep the record book, and renew on time
During the term the notary displays the “notary public” sign the rules require at the place of business, provides services to the public during normal business hours, records every act in the record book, and reports any change in office, occupation, residence, or employment to the Attorney General in writing within thirty days of the change. Renewal is the notary’s own responsibility: a completed renewal application, with the $20 renewal application fee and the $100 renewal fee, received on or before the expiration date is timely (sections 5-11-23, 5-11-46); the renewal application must be notarized by another currently commissioned notary. A commission knowingly not renewed on time is forfeited; a forfeited commission may be restored on compliance with the renewal requirements within one year of forfeiture (restoration application $10; restoration $80), and a person seeking restoration more than one year after expiration reapplies as a new applicant — examination included, as for every new commission. A separate remote online notary public commission is a later layer available only to a notary holding an active commission; it is not part of this route.
What makes this examination demanding
The demand is the combination of a closed book and an approval-first sequence. Nothing may be carried into the sitting: the statute ranges, the rule numbers’ substance, the fee figures in both directions, the seal’s dimensions, the record book’s six entries, the ninety-day and thirty-day and fourteen-day clocks must all be held in memory, against a bar of 80 percent. The syllabus is wider than Chapter 456 alone suggests — section 5-11-33 reaches the recording statutes at sections 502-41 to 502-74, and the Attorney General’s study list reaches further still, to sections 502-48 to 502-84, the judicial-circuit statute at section 603-1, and sections 621-12 and 621-13 — so a candidate who studies only the notary chapter has prepared only part of the paper. The practical half is the other trap: the Manual examines judgment, not recitation — the interested notary, the signer who cannot sign, the altered document, the document nobody present can read — and its distractors are the almost-lawful acts. And the route punishes drift in money: a missed sitting without notice costs a new application and $25; a slow reexamination request costs a new application after fourteen days; two failures cost ninety days. Preparation that ignores the clocks prepares for half the gate.
The credential at work
The Hawaii commission is held across the State’s banks and credit unions, title and escrow offices, law offices, healthcare and government counters, real estate closings, and independent practice — anywhere a signature must be acknowledged, sworn, or witnessed by a commissioned public officer rather than a party to the transaction. It is a four-year, statewide public appointment, verifiable through the Attorney General’s notary search, issued only after the holder has justified the appointment in writing, been vouched for by a Hawaii resident, and passed a closed-book examination on Hawaii law — a materially heavier credential than a registration, and one whose holders serve the general public, not only their employers. It is also the base on which the separate remote online notary public commission is built.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Practice in the examination’s own conditions. The program in the works practises under the sitting’s published conditions: written work, closed-book, scored against the published standard — the passing score is 80 percent — with no reference material to hand, because Hawaii publishes no question count or time limit, practice is built for recall under the closed-book rule rather than against an invented paper length, and no sitting length is simulated that the Attorney General has not published.
Written from the primary sources. The program is written from the Attorney General’s own publications — the Notaries Public page and Commission Applications guidance, the Notary Public Manual revised August 2022, Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 5-11, and Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 456 with the recording and circuit provisions the Attorney General’s study list names. Where a figure in circulation cannot be verified in those sources — a question count, a time limit — the program prints none and says so.
The whole candidate, not only the test-taker. Around the practice, the program carries the route as the Attorney General publishes it — the eHawaii.gov application with its two letters, approval before scheduling, the county-of-residence sitting, the thirty-day result, the fourteen-day reexamination window and the ninety-day two-failure wait, the judge-approved $1,000 bond and the circuit-court filing — because on this route the sequence failures are as fatal as the knowledge failures.
Preparation only. This is preparation for an examination administered by the Department of the Attorney General. PassProfessor is not affiliated with the Department of the Attorney General, and nothing in the program substitutes for the application, the examination, the oath, the bond, or any commission requirement.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Hawaii Notary Public program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.
Frequently asked questions
Who commissions a Hawaii notary public?
The Attorney General of Hawaii. The Notary Public Program is administered by the Department of the Attorney General in Honolulu; Hawaii has no secretary of state performing this function.
What is the passing score on the Hawaii Notary Public examination?
In the Attorney General’s published forms: the Notary Public Manual states, “The passing score is 80 percent,” and Hawaii Administrative Rules section 5-11-32(a) states, “The minimum passing score is eighty per cent.”
Is the examination really closed-book?
Yes — in the Attorney General’s own words, the approved applicant must pass “a written, closed-book examination” covering the statutory laws and rules that apply to notaries public in Hawaii, practical aspects of a notary’s practice, and a notary’s duties and responsibilities.
How many questions are on the examination, and how long do I have?
The Attorney General publishes neither a question count nor a time limit in the Notary Public Manual, Chapter 5-11, or the Notaries Public pages read for this program, so this page prints neither. Figures in circulation come from secondary sources, not from the administering department.
Can I book the examination when I am ready?
No. The sequence is fixed: apply online first, be approved by the Attorney General, then schedule through the notary account’s exam scheduler. The examination is given on Oahu at least once a month and on the neighbor islands periodically, at designated locations in the county in which the applicant resides.
What does the route cost in Hawaii fees?
The Attorney General’s published fees: $20 to apply, $10 for each examination, and $100 for issuance of the commission — $130 in total on a clean run, all non-refundable, all charged by the Department of the Attorney General and separate from any preparation program. Rescheduling costs $15 or $20 depending on notice; a no-show costs a new application and $25; renewal is $20 to apply and $100 to renew.
What happens if I fail?
You may reexamine without a new application if you request, pay the examination fee, and reschedule within fourteen calendar days of the failure notification. Miss that window and a new application with its fees is required. Fail twice and you wait ninety days from the date of the last examination before reapplying.
Is there a course I must take first?
No. Hawaii requires no education course for the commission. The published study materials are the Notary Public Manual, Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 5-11, and Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 456.
I am an attorney. Am I exempt from the examination?
No exemption on that basis appears in the Attorney General’s published requirements, the Notary Public Manual, or Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 5-11 in the sources read: section 5-11-32(a) conditions every commission on paying the examination fee and passing the written examination.
What bond is required?
A $1,000 official surety bond, executed at the notary’s own expense before entering on the duties of office, approved by a judge of the circuit court of the circuit in which the notary resides, and filed with the clerk of that circuit court after approval. Notaries in government service are the published exception: no bond is required of them unless the head of their department requires one.
How long is the commission, and how is it renewed?
Four years from the date of commission, statewide. Renewal is by completed renewal application with the $20 renewal application fee and the $100 renewal fee, received on or before expiration; a knowing failure to renew forfeits the commission, which may be restored within one year of forfeiture, after which the holder reapplies as a new applicant.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Department of the Attorney General?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Department of the Attorney General. The program confers no commission and reports nothing to the Attorney General.