The Ohio Notary Public commission is granted by the Ohio Secretary of State under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 147. For a non-attorney applicant, the gate before the application can be filed is a package, not a separate sitting: a three-hour education program and a test on that program, both delivered through a Secretary of State–authorized provider, completed within twelve months before applying, for a provider fee of $130, alongside a criminal records check completed within the preceding six months and a $15 filing fee to the Secretary of State. An attorney admitted in Ohio who applies after September 20, 2019 must complete the same three-hour education program but is not required to pass the test. The Secretary of State publishes no numerical passing score for the provider test, and this page prints none. A non-attorney commission runs five years, statewide.
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What this commission is
An Ohio notary public is an officer of the state, commissioned by the Ohio Secretary of State to perform notarial acts, with statewide jurisdiction under Ohio Revised Code section 147.07. Section 147.011 states the position plainly in current law: a notary public is an officer of the state, commissioned to perform notarial acts by the Secretary of State, and a notary commission is not an occupational or professional license. Section 147.51 lists the acts the office carries: administering oaths or affirmations required or authorized by law; taking and certifying acknowledgments of deeds, mortgages, liens, powers of attorney, and other instruments of writing; and taking and certifying depositions, with the power the law vests in judges of county courts to compel the attendance of witnesses in that work. The commission does not authorize the practice of law, and section 147.142 bars a notary who is not a licensed attorney in Ohio from the unauthorized-practice and immigration-consultant acts that section lists, including using the phrase “notario” or “notario publico” to advertise notary services.
Ohio rebuilt this gate in 2019, and its shape is the organizing fact of this page. Since September 20, 2019, commissioning runs through the Secretary of State, applications are submitted electronically, and — under section 147.021 — no person shall be appointed as a notary public unless that person has completed an educational program related to the requirements of Chapter 147 and passed a test demonstrating knowledge of such requirements, subject to the attorney exceptions in section 147.01(B)(4). The Secretary of State does not itself give that course or that test in a state sitting. The Secretary of State authorizes providers, adopts the standards and curricula in rules, publishes the list of authorized providers, and receives the proof of completion with the application. The education and the test therefore arrive together, from the same authorized provider, before the application: a candidate prepares not for a detached examination day, but for a three-hour program whose test, in Ohio Administrative Code rule 111:6-1-02(F), must cover all of the curriculum topics that rule lists, with each provider offering multiple curriculum tests so that there is not one uniform test in circulation. The companion Ohio Notary Public Exam Guide sets out the curriculum, the law, and the route in detail.
One distinction in the Ohio package is drawn nowhere else in this family in quite this form, and this page keeps it exact. In Ohio, an attorney skips the test but not the course. Section 147.01(B)(4)(c) provides that any attorney who applies to become commissioned after September 20, 2019 shall not be required to pass a test, but shall be required to complete an education program. Section 147.01(B)(4)(b) separately provides that an attorney commissioned before September 20, 2019 shall not be required to complete an education program or pass a test. The Secretary of State’s application filings page states the working form for current applicants: attorney applicants licensed to practice law in Ohio are exempt from taking the test but must take the three-hour education class.
The course and test at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Commission | Notary public, appointed and commissioned by the Ohio Secretary of State as a notary public for the state (Ohio Revised Code section 147.01(A), (C)(1), (D)); statewide jurisdiction (section 147.07) |
| Governing law | Ohio Revised Code Chapter 147, principally sections 147.01, 147.021, 147.022, 147.03, 147.031, and 147.51 to 147.66; Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 111:6-1, principally rules 111:6-1-02 and 111:6-1-03 |
| The gate, as officially structured | Mandatory education and testing completed before applying, through a Secretary of State–authorized provider only. The Secretary of State’s education and testing page: all Ohio notary public applicants — including those seeking initial commission, renewal, or remote online notarization authorization — must complete mandatory education and testing before applying through the Secretary of State’s office |
| Non-attorney initial application | Three education hours; test requirement: Yes. Fee paid directly to the authorized provider: $130 (Ohio Secretary of State education and testing table; Ohio Administrative Code rule 111:6-1-03(A)) |
| Attorney initial application | Three education hours; test requirement: No. Fee paid directly to the authorized provider: $75 (Ohio Secretary of State education and testing table; Ohio Administrative Code rule 111:6-1-03(B)). An attorney commissioned before September 20, 2019 is excepted from both the education program and the test (section 147.01(B)(4)(b)) |
| Passing standard | No numerical passing score is published by the Secretary of State, in section 147.021, or in Ohio Administrative Code rules 111:6-1-02 or 111:6-1-03, in the sources read. The published requirement is that the applicant pass a test administered by an authorized provider demonstrating knowledge of the requirements of Chapter 147. This page prints no figure |
| Format | No question count and no time limit for the provider test is published in the official sources read, and neither appears in this package. Providers must offer multiple curriculum tests, so there is not one uniform test in circulation (rule 111:6-1-02(F)) |
| Retake after a failure | An applicant who fails the test may apply to retake it not sooner than thirty days following the date of the last examination, and no later than six months following the issuance of the criminal records check. On a second failure, the applicant must re-start the process with a new application, including the $130 provider fee (rule 111:6-1-03(A)(3)) |
| Education clock | Education must be completed within twelve months before the date of the notary application or renewal (Ohio Secretary of State, education and testing page). Proof of completion is issued by the authorized provider and uploaded as part of the application submission |
| Criminal records check | A criminal records check report completed within the preceding six months, showing no conviction or plea of guilty or no contest to a disqualifying offense as determined under section 9.79, is part of qualification (section 147.01(B)(3)(a); section 147.022). Attorneys admitted in Ohio and peace officers are not required to submit a criminal records check under section 147.01(B)(3)(b); the Secretary of State’s filings page states that Ohio peace officers may upload their Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy Certificate in lieu of a criminal record check report |
| Filing fee | Ohio fee: $15 paid to the Secretary of State on filing the application for a commission (rule 111:6-1-03(A)(4), (B)(3); Secretary of State filings page). Provider education and testing fees are separate, paid directly to the provider, and are non-refundable as the Secretary of State publishes them |
| Term | A non-attorney notary public holds office for five years unless the commission is revoked. An attorney admitted in Ohio holds office as long as the attorney is a resident of Ohio or has a principal place of business or primary practice in Ohio, is in good standing before the Ohio Supreme Court, and the commission is not revoked (section 147.03) |
| Renewal (non-attorney) | One education hour; test requirement: No. Fee paid directly to the authorized provider: $45, plus the $15 filing fee to the Secretary of State. Renewal may be applied for beginning three months before expiration (sections 147.031(B)–(C); rule 111:6-1-03(C); Secretary of State education and testing table) |
| Bond | No surety bond appears among the qualifications listed in section 147.01(B), in the sources read |
| Administrator of the commission | Ohio Secretary of State. Education and the test are administered by the entities authorized by the Secretary of State under section 147.021. PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Ohio Secretary of State or with any authorized provider |
What the education and test cover
Ohio publishes the curriculum, and the test is built on it. Ohio Administrative Code rule 111:6-1-02(C) provides that the curriculum for notary commission education shall include, but is not limited to, twenty-two listed topics, and rule 111:6-1-02(F) provides that applicants who are required to pass a test must be tested on all of the topics in that list, together with the online-authorization curriculum topics in paragraph (D) where they apply and any updates to Ohio notary law or the administrative rules. No topic weights are published in that rule, and this page prints none. Section 147.021(B)(2) names the statutory core underneath the rule: the terms of notary commission; how to renew a commission; the conditions under which a commission may be revoked; what constitutes a legal notarial act; the manner of taking depositions; the taking of an acknowledgment; and the administration of a jurat. The areas below follow the published curriculum in its own groupings.
The commission itself: terms, renewal, updating, and revocation
The opening curriculum topics are the office rendered as law: the terms of a notary commission; the requirements to update and renew a commission; the geographic jurisdiction of a notary public — statewide, under section 147.07, with the Secretary of State’s published direction that a notary must be physically located in Ohio when performing traditional or remote online notarizations; the reporting requirement if a notary public is convicted of or pleads guilty or no contest to a disqualifying offense; the conditions under which a commission may be revoked; and the investigation and disciplinary processes. Section 147.032 gives those last topics their statutory shape: on a belief that a violation has occurred, or on a signed complaint, the Secretary of State may investigate, and after an investigation may revoke the commission, suspend it for a specified period or until a condition such as retraining is fulfilled, or issue a letter of admonition placed in the notary’s record — and a notary who does not cooperate fully, including by responding in a timely manner, shall have the commission revoked. Section 147.01(C)(3) and section 147.032(E) close the loop: a person whose commission is revoked is ineligible for reappointment and may not apply for a subsequent commission.
What a compliant notarial act is, and how to perform one
The centre of the curriculum is the act itself: what constitutes a notarial act that complies with Ohio law and the administrative rules, and how to perform a compliant notarial act, including examples involving commonly notarized documents. Chapter 147 works that ground section by section. A notary who takes an acknowledgment shall determine, from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence, that the person appearing has the identity claimed and that the signature on the record is that person’s signature (section 147.49), and the same determination governs a verification on oath or affirmation, a jurat (section 147.49(B)). A completed notarial certificate must be provided for every act performed, showing the state and county venue, the wording of the acknowledgment or jurat, the date, the notary’s signature exactly as shown on the commission, the printed name below the signature or inked stamp, and the notarial seal and commission expiration date (section 147.542). And the act has a sequence the Secretary of State publishes as practice: the notary in Ohio, the signer appearing, the document verified for certificate language and blanks, the signer identified, the signer’s ability and willingness assessed, and the correct certificate completed.
Acknowledgments, jurats, oaths, and depositions
Three curriculum topics are three distinct acts, and the test is built on their differences. The taking of an acknowledgment: the person acknowledging appeared before the notary and acknowledged executing the instrument, and the words “acknowledged before me” carry the meanings section 147.53(B) lists, including the representative-capacity cases — a corporation, a limited liability company, a partnership, a principal by an attorney in fact, and a public officer, trustee, administrator, guardian, or other representative — for which section 147.55 provides statutory short forms. The administration of a jurat: the person executing a jurat shall certify that the signer appeared before the notary, that the notary administered an oath or affirmation that the statement in the jurat is true and correct, and that the signer signed the document in the presence of the notary (section 147.54) — with the oath or affirmation in one of the two published question forms that section gives. The administration of an oath or affirmation more generally, and the manner of taking depositions, complete the group: an acknowledgment requires no oath, a jurat cannot be executed without one, and section 147.141(A)(15) and (16) make taking an acknowledgment in lieu of a required oath, and executing a jurat without administering an oath or affirmation, prohibited acts.
Identity, signatures by mark, and the designated alternative signer
Verifying the identity of the principal is a curriculum topic with its own statute. Section 147.50 gives the two routes exactly: personal knowledge, where the person is personally known through dealings sufficient to provide reasonable certainty of the identity claimed; and satisfactory evidence, by inspection of a passport, driver’s license, government-issued nondriver identification card, or other government-issued identification with the signature or photograph of the individual, current or expired not more than three years before the act, or by verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally appearing, personally known to the notary or identified on the same documentary basis — a witness with a conflict of interest is not credible. The notary may require additional information or credentials. Signatures by mark and the method to notarize a document signed by a designated alternative signer are separate curriculum topics: section 147.59 permits a person whose physical characteristics limit the ability to sign to direct a designated alternative signer, only when the person clearly indicates the intent, both the person and the signer provide satisfactory identification, the signer signs in the notary’s presence, the signer is not named in the document, and the notarial certificate gives the signer’s name and states that the document was signed under that section at the person’s direction.
Seal, journal, and fees
Requirements for a notary seal: before entering on the discharge of official duties, a notary shall obtain the seal — the coat of arms of the state within a circle at least three-quarters of an inch but not larger than one inch in diameter, surrounded by the words “notary public,” “notarial seal,” or words to that effect, the name of the notary public, and the words “State of Ohio,” by a seal that stamps ink or embosses, with the name permitted instead in legible printed letters near the signature (section 147.04). Maintaining a notarial journal is a curriculum topic stated with a distinction the Secretary of State publishes in its resources: for traditional notarizations, Ohio law does not require a journal, but the Secretary of State strongly recommends logging every notarial act as a best practice; for remote online notarizations, all acts must be recorded in an electronic journal under section 147.65. The fees a notary public is permitted to charge are statutory and bounded: up to five dollars for any notarial act that is not an online notarization, and up to thirty dollars for an online notarization, not calculated on a per signature basis, with a reasonable travel fee agreed before the act and, for an online notarization, a technology fee of up to ten dollars for the use of an online notarization system (section 147.08).
Prohibited acts, unauthorized practice, electronic notarization, and reporting
The closing curriculum topics are the boundaries. An overview and examples of prohibited acts reaches section 147.141’s list: performing an act on a record executed by the notary; notarizing the notary’s own signature; taking the notary’s own deposition; acting with a conflict of interest as that section defines it; certifying that a document is an original or a true copy of another record; signing certificates in a name other than the commissioned name; altering an instrument after signing or a certificate after completion; notarizing a signature on an incomplete or blank document; notarizing where the signer appears mentally incapable of understanding the document, or unduly influenced or coerced; and charging or accepting a fee greater than the amount prescribed by law. What constitutes unauthorized immigration consultant acts and the unauthorized practice of law by a notary reaches section 147.142. An explanation of electronic notarizations introduces the separate online layer in sections 147.60 to 147.66, kept apart in the route below. And mandatory reporting — including the thirty-day duty in section 147.05(B) to notify the Secretary of State after a legal name or address change, the resignation notice in section 147.05(C), and the duty in section 147.05(D) to inform the Secretary of State of a conviction or plea to the offenses that section lists — completes the published list.
The route, in order
Step 1 — Order the criminal records check before the education, as the Secretary of State directs
The Secretary of State’s education and testing page puts this instruction at the front of the route for a practical reason: education and testing fees are non-refundable, so before completing education and testing, order the Bureau of Criminal Investigation background check to ensure there are no disqualifying offenses under section 9.79. Qualification under section 147.01(B)(3)(a) requires a criminal records check report completed within the preceding six months demonstrating no conviction or plea of guilty or no contest to a disqualifying offense, and section 147.022 provides that the Secretary of State shall not accept an application that includes a report more than six months old. Attorneys admitted in Ohio and peace officers are not required to submit a criminal records check under section 147.01(B)(3)(b). Check the other qualifications at the same time: at least eighteen years old, and a legal resident of Ohio — the sole non-resident route in section 147.01(B)(2)(b) is an attorney admitted to practice law in Ohio by the Ohio Supreme Court whose principal place of business or primary practice is in Ohio.
Step 2 — Complete the three-hour education program, and pass the test, through an authorized provider
Contact an authorized provider directly to schedule education and testing and pay the required provider fee — $130 for a non-attorney initial application, covering the required education and testing; $75 for an attorney initial application, for the education alone. The provider list is the Secretary of State’s published list: county clerks of courts, county and local bar associations, county law libraries, the National Notary Association, and other entities the Secretary of State has authorized, offering the services in person, online, or both, as each provider’s listing states. Proof of completion will be issued by the authorized provider after successful completion, and the education must be completed within twelve months before the application date. For the tested applicant, the retake clock is part of this step: a failure may be retaken not sooner than thirty days after the last examination and no later than six months following the issuance of the criminal records check, and a second failure requires re-starting the process with a new application, including the provider fee again. An attorney applicant completes this step with the education only, as stated above.
Step 3 — File the application electronically with the Secretary of State, and pay the $15 filing fee
All submissions to the Secretary of State for receiving and renewing commissions shall be done electronically (section 147.01(E)). File online at the Secretary of State’s notary filings portal, providing the email address, telephone number, mailing address, and date of birth the application requires, and upload as PDFs the criminal record check report, the certificates from the education and testing provider showing successful completion of the program and test, and an image of your signature. The fee to submit is $15. The proof of completion from Step 2 is an upload in this filing, which is why the education and testing come before the application in Ohio and cannot be completed after it.
Step 4 — Take the oath of office, and obtain the seal, before performing any act
Before entering upon the duties of office, a notary public shall personally appear before a notary public or any officer authorized by law to administer oaths, who shall administer an oath of office to the notary public (section 147.01(G)). Before entering upon the discharge of official duties, the notary shall also obtain the seal section 147.04 prescribes, in the commissioned name. Only then does the five-year term — or, for an attorney, the term section 147.03 describes — become a working commission, verifiable in the public database of notaries the Secretary of State maintains under section 147.051, which shows the status of the authority to perform notarial acts, whether the notary is authorized to perform online notarizations, and any administrative or disciplinary action taken.
Step 5 — Renew in the three-month window, with one hour of education and no test — or start again if the commission expires
A non-attorney commission expires five years from issuance without a successful renewal application. Renewal may be applied for beginning three months before the expiration date (section 147.031(C)). Through the authorized entities, the renewal filing carries a new criminal records check report, the renewal application, and the fees the rules set: a one-hour education program through an authorized provider, no earlier than twelve months before expiration, for a $45 provider fee, with no test, and the $15 filing fee to the Secretary of State. Section 147.031(D) states the consequence of missing the window in the statute’s own terms: if the commission expires before the renewal application is submitted, the Secretary of State shall not renew that expired commission but shall permit the person to apply for a new notary commission — which returns the applicant to the initial package, the three-hour education and the test included.
Step 6 — Treat remote online notarization authorization as a separate, second package
Remote online notarization is not included in the base commission. A notary public may not perform remote online notarizations unless authorized by the Secretary of State. The authorization has its own gate, stated separately in the Secretary of State’s table and in rule 111:6-1-03(D): the applicant must already hold a current Ohio commission and reside in Ohio, complete a two-hour education program and pass a test administered by an authorized provider — for this authorization, the Secretary of State’s published list names a single authorized online provider, the entity owned by Ohio Notary Services, LLC — for a $250 provider fee, determine the technology to be used, and file the authorization application electronically with the certificates, for a $20 filing fee. Section 147.63(B)(2) explains the single-provider structure: the Secretary of State shall approve one business entity comprised of bar associations with statewide scope and regional presence to provide the course and administer the examination to become an online notary. The retake rule mirrors the initial test — not sooner than thirty days, no later than six months following completion of the education program, with a second failure requiring a re-start — and the authorization expires on the same date as the underlying commission for a non-attorney. Its renewal is again its own filing: one hour of education, a $160 provider fee, no test, and a $20 filing fee. None of those figures belongs to the base commission package.
What makes this package demanding
The demand is compression and consequence, not length of sitting. The entire tested body of law — a twenty-two-topic published curriculum covering the commission, the acts, identification, certificates, fees, prohibitions, and discipline — is carried by a single three-hour program, and the test sits at the end of that program with the same provider, so a candidate who treats the education hours as attendance rather than study arrives at the test with the material at its least familiar, hours after first meeting it. Because each authorized provider must offer multiple curriculum tests, there is no single paper in circulation to rehearse against: preparation that works is preparation across the whole curriculum, in the statute’s own distinctions — acknowledgment against jurat, personal knowledge against satisfactory evidence, a certificate that may be explained against advice about which act to choose that only an attorney notary may give. The clocks punish drift around the package: the criminal records check must be within six months, the education within twelve months of applying, a retake falls between thirty days and the six-month check deadline, and a second failure re-starts the process with the provider fee payable again. And the fees already paid are non-refundable, as the Secretary of State publishes them, regardless of testing outcome.
The credential at work
The Ohio commission is held across the state’s banks, title and real estate closings, law offices, healthcare and government counters, vehicle title transfers, and court and corporate paperwork — anywhere a signature must be acknowledged, sworn, or certified before a commissioned officer of the state rather than a party to the transaction, anywhere in Ohio. It is a five-year, statewide public appointment for a non-attorney, verifiable in the Secretary of State’s public database, and it is the base on which the separate remote online notarization authorization is built for notaries whose acts are performed online.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Preparation for the package in its own shape. Ohio’s gate is a three-hour education program and a provider-administered test on a published twenty-two-topic curriculum, and the program in the works prepares in that shape: study organized topic by topic against Ohio Administrative Code rule 111:6-1-02(C), worked practice on the curriculum’s own distinctions, and pacing that treats the education hours themselves as the first study pass, so the test at the end of the program is met as a second encounter with the material, not a first.
Written from the primary sources. The program is written from the Ohio Secretary of State’s education and testing, application, and filings publications, from Ohio Revised Code Chapter 147, and from Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 111:6-1 — the provider structure, the curriculum list, the retake and re-start rules, and the attorney position exactly as those sources state them. Where a figure in circulation cannot be verified in those sources — a numerical passing score, 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 Secretary of State publishes it — the criminal records check ordered before the non-refundable education fees are paid, its six-month clock and the education’s twelve-month clock running together, the electronic application and its uploads, the oath and the seal before any act, the three-month renewal window with expiration treated as a new commission, and the remote online notarization authorization kept separate throughout — because on this route the sequence and clock failures cost the same fees as a failed test.
Preparation only. This is preparation for education and testing administered by Secretary of State–authorized providers and for a commission granted by the Ohio Secretary of State. PassProfessor is not affiliated with the Ohio Secretary of State or with any authorized provider, it is not itself an authorized provider, no completion of this program satisfies the mandatory education requirement or is reported to the Secretary of State or to any provider, and nothing in the program substitutes for the education program, the provider test, the criminal records check, the application, or any commission requirement.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Ohio 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 an Ohio notary public?
The Ohio Secretary of State. The Secretary of State appoints and commissions notaries public for the state under section 147.01, oversees the processing of applications, issues all commissions, and maintains the public database of commissioned notaries.
Is the Ohio test a separate state examination sitting?
No — and the distinction governs how to prepare. Ohio’s gate is a statutory education and testing package: the three-hour education program and the test on it are administered together by Secretary of State–authorized providers, before the application is filed, and proof of completion is uploaded with that application. There is no single statewide sitting, and no uniform test in circulation — each authorized provider must offer multiple curriculum tests.
What is the passing score on the Ohio provider test?
No numerical passing score is published by the Ohio Secretary of State, in Ohio Revised Code section 147.021, or in Ohio Administrative Code rules 111:6-1-02 or 111:6-1-03, in the sources read. The published requirement is that an applicant pass a test administered by an authorized provider demonstrating knowledge of the requirements of Chapter 147. This page prints no figure, and figures in circulation from other sources are not the Secretary of State’s published standard.
I am an attorney admitted in Ohio. Do I take the test?
No — but you take the course. An attorney who applies after September 20, 2019 is not required to pass the test, but is required to complete the three-hour education program, for a $75 provider fee. An attorney commissioned before September 20, 2019 is excepted from both the education program and the test. Attorneys admitted in Ohio are also not required to submit a criminal records check. An attorney’s commission has no five-year term: it holds as long as the attorney is a resident of Ohio or has a principal place of business or primary practice in Ohio, is in good standing before the Ohio Supreme Court, and the commission is not revoked.
How many questions are on the test, and how long does it take?
No question count and no time limit for the provider test is published in the official sources read, and this page prints neither. Each authorized provider offers multiple curriculum tests covering all of the topics in Ohio Administrative Code rule 111:6-1-02(C), so counts and forms vary by provider by design.
What does the route cost in official fees?
For a non-attorney initial application, the fees the official sources publish are $130 paid directly to the authorized provider for the required education and testing, and $15 paid to the Secretary of State on filing the application — labeled here as Ohio and provider fees, separate from any preparation program. Education and testing fees are non-refundable. The criminal records check carries its own charge under section 147.022, payable to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation as that section prescribes; no amount for it is stated in the sources used for the route above, and none is printed here.
What happens if I fail the test?
You may apply to retake it not sooner than thirty days following the date of your last examination, and no later than six months following the issuance of your criminal records check. If you fail a second time, you must re-start the process with a new application, including the $130 provider fee again.
Is a bond required?
No surety bond appears among the qualifications listed in Ohio Revised Code section 147.01(B), in the sources read. The qualifications that section lists are age, residency, the criminal records check, and the education and test, with the attorney exceptions stated above.
How do I renew, and what if my commission has already expired?
Apply beginning three months before expiration, with a new criminal records check report, a one-hour education program through an authorized provider for a $45 provider fee — no test — and the $15 filing fee. If the commission expires before the renewal application is submitted, the Secretary of State shall not renew it; you apply for a new commission instead, with the initial three-hour education and test package in front of it again.
Must an Ohio notary keep a journal?
For traditional notarizations, Ohio law does not require a journal, and the Secretary of State strongly recommends logging every notarial act as a best practice. For remote online notarizations, an electronic journal is required by law, with the entries section 147.65 prescribes.
Is remote online notarization part of this commission?
No. It is a separate authorization on a current commission, with its own two-hour education program and test through the single authorized online provider, its own $250 provider fee and $20 filing fee, and its own renewal. This program covers the base Ohio Notary Public commission package; the authorization’s facts are stated separately in the companion guide as a boundary, not merged into this package.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Ohio Secretary of State or an authorized provider?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Ohio Secretary of State or with any Secretary of State–authorized education and testing provider, and it is not itself an authorized provider. The program confers no commission and satisfies no part of the mandatory education requirement.