Guide · California notary public
How to Use the California Notary Handbook
What the California Notary Public Handbook is, where to get the January 2026 edition, what each section covers, and how to study from it for the exam.
The California Notary Public Handbook is the Secretary of State's own book of the laws on California notaries. Its Notary Public Section publishes it, and its opening letter says: "The Notary Public Handbook is the official source of laws related to notaries in California." The current edition is dated January 2026.
The Secretary of State's handbook page says what it is for: "The Notary Public Handbook contains California laws relating to notaries public and is designed to assist an applicant in preparing for the notary public examination." CPS HR Consulting, which runs the exam, puts the whole book in scope: "All of the material in the California Notary Public Handbook (including updates, if any) is subject to examination."
Below: where to get the current edition, what is in it section by section, and how to study from it.
This guide is not the course. Reading it does not count toward the six hours a first commission requires or the three hours of a refresher, and cannot. A refresher counts only if you apply for reappointment before your current commission expires. The statutory education requirement is satisfied only by completing a course of study the Secretary of State has approved and receiving that vendor's Proof of Completion certificate. General notarial information, not legal advice.
Where to get the current edition
The Secretary of State publishes the handbook on its handbook page. The current edition is the link at the top, 2026 Notary Public Handbook (PDF). On October 7, 2026, that link served the edition dated January 2026. Below it the page lists previous editions, back to 2005.
The page tells exam candidates which one to use: "Refer to the current version of the handbook when preparing for the examination."
The law points the same way. Government Code section 8201(a)(4) makes passing the exam a requirement for every notary, and says what the questions come from: "All questions shall be based on the law of this state as set forth in the booklet of the laws of California relating to notaries public distributed by the Secretary of State."
Studying the handbook does not replace the course. Completing an approved course of study is one of the five requirements the handbook itself lists, and its answer for an applicant who has finished the six-hour course is to "staple your proof of completion certificate to the application and take both items with you to the exam."
What's inside
After its opening letter and table of contents, the January 2026 edition has two parts and an index. General Information, pages 7 to 27, is the Secretary of State's own explanation of the rules. It names the code sections it summarizes in parentheses, such as (Government Code section 8213.5). From page 28 the handbook reprints the code sections themselves. The page numbers below are the handbook's own, from its table of contents.
General Information
Each row links to a related guide on this site.
| Handbook section | Page | Related guide |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment and Qualifications (with Convictions and Notary Public Education) | 7 | How to become a notary, six-hour vs. three-hour course |
| Requirements and Time Limit for Qualifying | 8 | Your first 30 days: the oath and the bond |
| Notary Public Bond | 8 | The California notary bond; your first 30 days: the oath and the bond |
| Geographic Jurisdiction | 8 | Where you can work |
| Acts Constituting the Practice of Law | 8 | The practice-of-law line |
| Notary Public Seal | 8 | Your first 30 days: the seal |
| Identification | 9 | How to identify a signer |
| Notary Public Journal | 11 | Journal requirements |
| Conflict of Interest | 12 | Conflict of interest in real-property words |
| Acknowledgment; Jurat | 12, 13 | Acknowledgment vs. jurat; the two forms, word for word |
| Proof of Execution by a Subscribing Witness | 14 | Proof of execution |
| Signature by Mark | 16 | Signatures other people put in your journal |
| Powers of Attorney—Certifying Copies | 17 | Powers of attorney |
| Tangible Copy Certification | 18 | The electronic record that becomes paper |
| Notarization of Incomplete Documents | 19 | Acts taken out of a notary's hands |
| Correcting a Notarial Act | 19 | No such thing as correcting a notarial act |
| Illegal Advertising | 20 | Advertising rules |
| Immigration Documents | 20 | Immigration forms |
| Confidential Marriage Licenses | 20 | None on this site |
| Grounds for Denial, Revocation, or Suspension of Appointment and Commission | 20 | The grounds in section 8214.1 |
| Disciplinary Guidelines | 21 | Who investigates |
| Fees | 21 | What notaries can charge, the 2027 fee increase |
| Change of Address | 22 | When your address changes |
| Foreign Language | 23 | Identifying is not understanding |
| Electronic Notarizations | 23 | Can you notarize online? |
| Common Questions and Answers | 23 | Renewal, keeping your commission in good standing |
The code sections
From page 28 the handbook reprints the statutes, grouped by code:
| Code | Page | What the handbook reprints |
|---|---|---|
| Government Code | 28 | Sections of the notary chapter, from 8200 to 8231, on appointment, duties, the journal, the seal, fees, the bond, discipline and penalties. Then other sections a notary meets, among them oaths, pensions and veterans, tangible copies, recording and subdivision maps. |
| Civil Code | 46 | Among them: who may take acknowledgments, satisfactory evidence of identity (section 1185), the certificate of acknowledgment, and proof of execution by a subscribing witness. |
| Code of Civil Procedure | 50 | Computing time, the definition of a subscribing witness, who may administer oaths, and the oath to a witness. |
| Elections Code | 52 | Section 8080: no fee for verifying a nomination document or circulator's affidavit. |
| Commercial Code | 52 | Section 3505(b), on protest of a dishonored instrument. |
| Probate Code | 52 | Section 4307, certified copies of a power of attorney. |
| Penal Code | 53 | Among them: offense classes, false documents on single-family residences, perjury and forgery. |
| Business and Professions Code | 54 | Section 22449, on price gouging in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals services. |
The index starts on page 56.
How to study from it
Read General Information, then the sections it cites
The summary tells you where each rule lives, and the reprinted code gives the rule in full. The two do not always read the same way. One example: the handbook's fee table prints the oath and the jurat as two rows, while section 8211(b) covers both in a single subdivision. The difference is worked through in Where the handbook's summary table and the statute do not line up.
Read the sentence after every rule
A condition can sit in the next sentence. The education paragraph says a notary who holds a current commission and has completed an approved six-hour course at least once takes an approved three-hour refresher before reappointment. Then it adds: "The three-hour refresher course can only be used to satisfy the education requirement if the notary public is applying for a new commission before their current commission has expired."
Read Common Questions and Answers
Pages 23 to 27 answer practical cases in the Secretary of State's words, among them reappointment timing, the refresher, failing the exam, a late oath and bond, address and name changes, a lost or seized journal, and identification. One answer, on a neighbor the notary has known for twenty years: "An acknowledgment may not be taken or a jurat executed on the basis of personal knowledge alone."
Study it before exam day
You can't use it in the room. CPS HR describes the exam this way: "It is a CLOSED-BOOK examination which is administered by proctors."
Match the handbook to CPS HR's content areas
CPS HR lists five content areas for the exam's scored items. It does not say which handbook pages each area draws on, so the pairing below is ours, by subject:
| CPS HR content area | Handbook sections on the same subject |
|---|---|
| Administrative Procedures | Appointment and Qualifications; Requirements and Time Limit for Qualifying; Notary Public Bond; Notary Public Seal; Change of Address |
| Notarial Acts/Documentation | Notary Public Journal; Acknowledgment; Jurat; Signature by Mark; Powers of Attorney—Certifying Copies; Tangible Copy Certification; Notarization of Incomplete Documents; Correcting a Notarial Act; Electronic Notarizations |
| Identification/Subscribing Witness Notarizations | Identification; Proof of Execution by a Subscribing Witness |
| Immigration/Foreign Language | Illegal Advertising; Immigration Documents; Foreign Language |
| Misconduct/Fees | Acts Constituting the Practice of Law; Conflict of Interest; Grounds for Denial, Revocation, or Suspension; Disciplinary Guidelines; Fees |
The pairing is a reading aid. CPS HR's own sentence puts the whole handbook in scope, code sections and answers included, so a section left out of this table is still exam material.
Test yourself
The exam guide covers the exam's format, registration and scoring, and has ten sample questions. California Notary Practice Exam Questions, With Answers has forty more. Both sets are notrai's own questions, written from the handbook and the code sections it reprints. They are not questions from the state exam, and the state exam's questions are not public. Each answer cites the section it comes from.
Editions change
The handbook is revised, and older editions are still posted online, including on the Secretary of State's own page. Check the cover of the copy you study from. The current one is dated January 2026, and the Secretary of State's link to it is the one at the top of its handbook page, above "Previous versions".
The handbook also points to updates between editions: "Regular updates and the following resources are available on the California Secretary of State's website at www.sos.ca.gov/notary".
The January 2026 edition predates Assembly Bill 1597, approved June 30, 2026, which amends Government Code section 8211 from January 1, 2027. Until then, section 8211 as the handbook reprints it remains the law. The handbook's other fee rows, such as the immigration-forms cap under section 8223(b) and the no-fee rows, do not change. The change is covered in this guide.
Official sources
Check the source before you rely on a date, a fee or a rule.
- Secretary of State, Notary Public Handbook — the current edition and previous ones — www.sos.ca.gov/notary/handbook
- California Notary Public Handbook, January 2026 edition (PDF) — notary.cdn.sos.ca.gov/forms/notary-handbook-current.pdf
- CPS HR Consulting, California Notary Exam — exam information, including the content areas — cpshr.us/services/california-notary-exam-2/notary-exam-information
- Secretary of State, Notary Public Section — Business Programs Division, P.O. Box 942877, Sacramento, California 94277-0001; (916) 653-3595
Where notrai fits
notrai is a California Secretary of State–approved notary public education vendor. The Secretary of State approved two notrai courses of study — the six-hour course for first-time applicants and the three-hour refresher for renewing notaries who meet its conditions (Six-Hour vs. Three-Hour lists them) — each under its own certificate of approval. That approval covers those two courses of study and nothing else. It is not an endorsement or recommendation of the courses, of notrai or of this website, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
Both courses are online and self-paced, and each issues a Proof of Completion certificate to a student who completes it. Each also includes its own practice exam, built from the course material rather than the state exam. You can try it with a notrai account before you buy a course.
Separately, notrai has an AI tutor you can ask about California notary law.
Sourced from
California Notary Public Handbook, January 2026 edition (California Secretary of State), including Government Code section 8201 and the code sections it reproduces; the Secretary of State's handbook page and CPS HR Consulting's notary exam information page, captured October 7, 2026. Statutory and regulatory citations are to the sections named in the text. This page is general information, not legal advice.
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