For Notaries · Mississippi
How to Become a Notary in Mississippi
To become a notary in Mississippi, you must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident, and a Mississippi resident for 30 days; post a $5,000 surety bond, pay the $25 state fee, and serve a 4-year term. No exam or training is required.
Last updated: July 16, 2026 · By Andrew Ray Yon, MBA, ChFC — CEO & Founder, USA Notary
Mississippi notaries are appointed by the Governor and administered by the Secretary of State's Business Services Division in Jackson. You apply on Form NP 001, get it notarized, and mail it with a $25 fee; once approved, you file a $5,000 surety bond and oath of office within 60 days to activate your commission. Mississippi is one of the more affordable and accessible states: there is no education requirement, no exam, and a generous four-year term. Commission certificates are now delivered by email rather than postal mail. The one limitation is online notarization: Mississippi does not authorize remote online notarization for its own notaries, so all acts must be performed with the signer physically present.
Mississippi Notary Requirements at a Glance
| Eligibility | Be at least 18 years old; a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident; a Mississippi resident who has lived in your county of residence for at least 30 days before applying; able to read and write English; not currently incarcerated, on probation or parole; and not have a felony conviction (unless pardoned or with voting rights restored). |
|---|---|
| Surety bond | Required: a $5,000 surety bond covering the full 4-year commission term, issued by a surety licensed by the Mississippi Department of Insurance. The bond (with the oath of office) must be filed with the Secretary of State within 60 days of the application date, or the application is rejected. |
| State filing fee | $25 nonrefundable state application filing fee, paid to the Secretary of State. (A name-change replacement commission carries a separate $20 fee.) |
| Commission term | 4 years |
| Notary education | Not required. Mississippi does not mandate any notary training or education course to be commissioned or renew. |
| Exam | Not required. There is no proctored or online exam to become a Mississippi notary. |
A Mississippi notary commission requires a $5,000 four-year surety bond and a $25 state filing fee, and runs for a four-year term. — National Notary Association - How to Become a Notary in Mississippi
How to Become a Notary in Mississippi: Step by Step
- 1
Confirm you're eligible
Verify you are at least 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident, a Mississippi resident who has lived in your county for 30+ days, can read and write English, and have no disqualifying felony conviction or probation/parole status.
- 2
Complete and notarize your application
Download Form NP 001 from the Secretary of State, complete it, and have it notarized by a Mississippi notary. No exam or training course is required.
- 3
Submit your application and $25 fee
Mail the notarized application with the $25 nonrefundable filing fee to the Secretary of State's Business Services Division. If approved, you'll receive a pre-commission certificate by email.
- 4
Obtain your $5,000 surety bond
Purchase a $5,000 four-year surety bond from a surety licensed by the Mississippi Department of Insurance, with an effective date matching your commission date.
- 5
File your bond and oath within 60 days
Return your completed bond and notarized oath of office to the Secretary of State within 60 days of the application date to activate your commission (miss the window and you must reapply and pay again).
- 6
Receive your commission and get supplies
Your commission certificate is emailed to you. Order an inked notary seal and a journal with numbered, sewn pages, then begin notarizing anywhere in Mississippi.
Remote Online Notarization in Mississippi
Mississippi does not authorize remote online notarization (RON) for its own commissioned notaries; the state has attempted RON legislation multiple times without enacting it. Mississippi notaries may perform electronic notarizations only when the signer is physically present, and must file an additional electronic-notary registration with the Secretary of State to do so. There is no state RON registration or added RON bond/fee for Mississippi notaries. Mississippi does recognize valid RON acts performed by notaries commissioned in other states (Miss. Code Ann. 25-34-23).
Online / remote notary application fee: Not applicable (RON not available for Mississippi notaries)
Revised Mississippi Law on Notarial Acts effective July 1, 2021 (Miss. Code Ann. 25-34-67); no RON law in effect as of 2026 per NNA (updated Aug 2025) and Proof.
See how RON is authorized in Mississippi — and state by state →
If online notarization is what drew you to this in the first place, the move is still to get the traditional Mississippi commission now. States that activate remote online notarization layer the online authorization on top of an active commission — so the notaries who are ready on day one are the ones already commissioned. Everything in the guide above puts you in that position.
New to the online side of the work? Start with whether you can become a notary entirely online — it separates the commission, the RON registration, and the platform account, the three pieces first-timers most often blur together.
Walk through the Mississippi remote online notarization process →
Need a document notarized in Mississippi instead? Notarize online with a Mississippi commissioned notary.
Traditional Notary vs. Remote Online Notary in Mississippi
Mississippi has not yet made remote online notarization operative for its notaries, so today the practical path is a traditional commission. Here's how the two compare for when RON goes live.
| Traditional (in-person) notary | Remote online notary (RON) | |
|---|---|---|
| How the signer appears | In person, in the same room | Over a live, recorded audio-video call |
| Available in Mississippi? | Yes | Not yet — authorized but not operative |
| What you need | Seal and journal | An approved RON platform, identity-proofing, and a digital certificate |
| Where the work comes from | Local, walk-in and mobile appointments | Nationwide — e.g. assigned online signings through USA Notary |
What Does It Cost to Become a Notary in Mississippi?
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| State application filing fee | $25 |
| $5,000 surety bond (4-year term) | About $45 (varies by supplier) |
| Education / exam | None required |
| Notary seal / stamp | About $30 |
| Notary journal | $30-$55 |
See costs and fees on USA Notary for platform-side details.
What a Mississippi Notary Can Charge
The costs above are what you pay to get commissioned — this is the other side of the ledger. Mississippi caps what a notary may charge per notarial act, and here is exactly where those ceilings sit.
| Maximum in-person fee (per notarial act) | $5 |
|---|
No remote online notarization fee is on the books for Mississippi — see where RON stands in Mississippi in the section above.
Two things to keep straight about these numbers. First, a statutory maximum is a ceiling, not a price list — a notary may always charge less, never more, and the figure applies per notarial act or signature. Second, the cap covers the notarial act itself: travel to a signer, printing, or after-hours convenience are separate charges, and how those extras are regulated differs from state to state — so quote them as their own line items, never folded into the notarial fee.
A per-act cap also explains why volume, not the stamp price, is what makes notary work pay — the notaries earning real income stack signings, loan packages, and online sessions on top of the base fee. To see how Mississippi's numbers compare with every other state — including which states set no cap at all — check the full 50-state breakdown of how much a notary costs.
Verified July 2026 against the National Notary Association "Notary Fees by State" table and primary state statutes/Secretary of State rules. Several states (WA, VA, NC) raised caps in 2023–2024. Fees are per notarial act/signature; a notary may charge less, never more. Confirm your state before relying on a figure.
Renewing Your Notary Commission in Mississippi
Commission term in Mississippi
4 years
A notary commission is not a one-time credential: it runs for the term shown above, and the authority ends the day the commission does. No state renews a commission automatically — the renewal is on you, and notarizing on a lapsed commission is treated as acting without authority everywhere.
What renewal actually involves differs by state — some treat it as a lighter re-file, others repeat the education, exam, or bonding steps — so when your date approaches, work from the official Mississippi sources listed at the end of this guide rather than a supplier's summary. The practical rule that holds everywhere: start well before the expiration date, because a gap between commissions means turning away work until the new one is issued.
For timelines, typical costs, and what to do if you've already let a commission lapse, see our step-by-step notary commission renewal guide.
Turn Your Mississippi Commission Into Income
Getting commissioned is step one. USA Notary connects commissioned notaries with paid signing work — and the moment Mississippi makes remote online notarization available to you, you can add assigned, paid remote signings through the platform. Learn how Mississippi notaries earn, see what platform membership costs a Mississippi notary, check the platform requirements for Mississippi notaries, and browse become-a-notary guides for other states.
Join USA Notary as a notaryFrequently Asked Questions
How long does a Mississippi notary commission last?
A Mississippi notary commission lasts four years. You can begin the renewal process no earlier than 90 days before your commission expires, and renewal follows the same steps as a first-time application.
How much does it cost to become a notary in Mississippi?
Expect roughly $135 to $160 total. That includes the $25 state filing fee, about $45 for the $5,000 four-year surety bond, and around $30 for a seal plus $30-$55 for a journal. Costs vary by supplier.
Is a class or exam required to become a Mississippi notary?
No. Mississippi does not require any training course, education hours, or exam to be commissioned or to renew. The state has one of the simplest notary processes in the country.
Who appoints and administers notaries in Mississippi?
Notaries are appointed by the Governor, and the Secretary of State's Business Services Division in Jackson oversees the application process and maintains the notary records. Commission certificates are delivered by email.
Can Mississippi notaries perform remote online notarization (RON)?
No. Mississippi does not authorize remote online notarization for its own notaries, so the signer must be physically present. Mississippi does, however, recognize valid RON acts performed by notaries commissioned in other states.
How much can a notary charge in Mississippi?
Mississippi's maximum fee for a standard in-person notarial act is $5. That cap is a ceiling, not a required price — a notary may always charge less — and it applies per notarial act or signature. Travel and convenience charges are separate from the notarial fee itself.
When does a Mississippi notary commission expire?
The Mississippi commission term is: 4 years. No state renews a commission automatically — once yours lapses you cannot perform notarial acts until the renewal or reappointment is complete, so calendar the expiration date and start the paperwork early.
Where to Go From Here
This guide covers what's specific to Mississippi; a few of the questions that come next are the same in every state. If you're mapping out the calendar, our breakdown of how long it takes to become a notary walks through each stage of the timeline — the application, the processing queue, and the waiting you can't control. Budgeting instead? The companion piece on what it costs to become a notary itemizes the same line items you saw in the Mississippi cost table above, across every state's version of the process, so you can sanity-check any package a vendor quotes you.
Two topics trip up more new notaries than anything else. The first is protection: a surety bond protects the public while errors-and-omissions insurance protects you, and our notary bond vs. E&O insurance explainer untangles which is a state requirement and which is your own call — start from the bond details in the requirements table above. The second is income: the highest-earning specialization for a commissioned notary is loan signings, so once your Mississippi commission arrives, read what a loan signing agent does and earns to decide whether that's your next step.
Becoming a Notary in Other States
Requirements differ by state — here are nearby East South Central guides and other popular states. See the full 50-state directory.
About the author
Andrew Ray Yon, MBA, ChFC
CEO & Founder, USA Notary Services LLC
Andrew Ray Yon is the founder and CEO of USA Notary Services LLC and the architect of the SharpNote remote online notarization platform. A Certified Notary Signing Agent since 2005, he has handled mortgage and title loan signings for two decades and holds an MBA and the ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant) designation. Based in Virginia’s Greater Richmond region, he leads the company’s strategy, compliance, and platform development.
Connect on LinkedInOfficial sources
- Mississippi Secretary of State - Notaries & Apostilles (official)
- National Notary Association - Mississippi
- Proof - Mississippi State Legislation (RON status)
This guide summarizes public requirements from Mississippi's notary authority and is for general information, not legal advice. Requirements and fees can change — always confirm current details with your state before applying.