Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Molly, VP Marketing at Acorn Sales, against Article 4 of Chapter 20 of Title 36 of the Alabama Code, Act 2023-548, Ala. Admin. Code Title 820 and the Alabama Probate Judges Association notary materials on 20 September 2026 · Updated 20 September 2026
Alabama requires a notary seal to authenticate every official act, and the required wording is the shortest of any state we supply: your name, the words “Notary Public”, and “State of Alabama”. That is the whole list. In particular there is no county on an Alabama seal, even though you are commissioned by a county probate judge, because an Alabama notary serves the state at large. Be careful with the size rules you will find online: most of them are not Alabama law for an ordinary notary.
Alabama notary stamp requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Alabama rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp required | Yes | Ala. Code § 36-20-72(a) |
| Required wording | The notary’s name, which the official training course states as your name exactly as it appears on your commission; The office, meaning the words “Notary Public”; The state for which you were appointed, meaning “State of Alabama” or “Alabama” | Ala. Code § 36-20-72(a) |
| Size and shape | Not addressed for an ordinary notary. | Ala. Code §§ 36-20-70 to 36-20-75 (silent) |
| Ink color | Not addressed. | Ala. Code § 36-20-72(b), § 36-20-73.1(b)(1) |
| Embosser | Expressly permitted as a full alternative. | Ala. Code § 36-20-72(a), (b) |
| Commission term | Terms run four years from the date of the commission. | Ala. Code § 36-20-70(a), (e) |
| Name or address change | Not addressed. | Ala. Code § 36-20-70(a), (e) |
| Lost or stolen stamp | Not addressed. | Ala. Code § 36-20-75(b)(2), (c), (d)(3) |
| Commissioning authority | The judge of probate of your county, not the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State keeps the public registry and receives misconduct affidavits but does not commission anyone, and the required pre-commission training is delivered by the Alabama Probate Judges Association | Article 4 of Chapter 20 of Title 36 of the Alabama Code, Act 2023-548, Ala. Admin. Code Title 820 |
Rules for other states are on notary stamp requirements by state.
Is a notary stamp required in Alabama?
Yes, for the authentication of every official act, and there is exactly one live seal statute: “For the authentication of his or her official acts, each notary shall provide a seal of office, which shall present, by its impression or stamp, the name, office, and the state for which he or she was appointed.” The powers section repeats it, letting notaries certify their acts “under their seal of office”.
The governing text is Ala. Code § 36-20-72(a); § 36-20-73(2).
What must appear on an Alabama notary stamp?
- The notary’s name, which the official training course states as your name exactly as it appears on your commission
- The office, meaning the words “Notary Public”
- The state for which you were appointed, meaning “State of Alabama” or “Alabama”
Three elements, and that is the entire statutory list. Note what is not on it. There is no county: an Alabama notary is commissioned by a county probate judge but serves “for the state at large”, so the county does not belong on the seal. There is also no commission expiration date required by statute, even though virtually every Alabama stamp in commerce carries one and probate offices expect it. Separately, § 36-20-72(b) governs anything headed for the public records, requiring an oath, acknowledgment, the signature or mark of each party, and the notary’s signature and “seal of office by either ink stamp or embossed impression”.
What size and shape must an Alabama notary stamp be?
Not addressed for an ordinary notary. We checked §§ 36-20-70, 36-20-70.1, 36-20-71, 36-20-72, 36-20-73, 36-20-73.1, 36-20-74 and 36-20-75, the full text of Act 2023-548, all of Ala. Admin. Code Title 820, and the Probate Judges Association training course and pamphlet. No dimension, no shape, no border. The one-inch to two-inch circular-or-square rule that circulates online is Admin. Code r. 820-6-3-.01, which governs civil-law notaries only and does not reach you.
Notary public stamps are made to these conventions, and we check your lines against the statutory wording before we make the stamp.
What ink color is required for an Alabama notary stamp?
Not addressed. We word-searched the full text of Act 2023-548, which rewrote §§ 36-20-70, -71, -72, -73.1, -74 and -75: no occurrence of black, color, legible, photographic or reproduce. The word ink appears twice, in “by either ink stamp or embossed impression” and in the defined term “wet ink”, and both are about the medium rather than the color. Nothing in Admin. Code Title 820, and the Probate Judges Association materials are silent. Outside the notary act we checked Title 35, Chapter 4, Article 3 on recordation and found no statewide ink or legibility standard reaching a notary stamp. Individual probate offices publish local formatting preferences; those are preferences, not law.
More on the trade-off in stamp ink color rules.
Is a notary embosser required or optional in Alabama?
Expressly permitted as a full alternative. Section 36-20-72(a) speaks of the seal presenting “by its impression or stamp”, and § 36-20-72(b) spells it out for recordable instruments: “seal of office by either ink stamp or embossed impression”. Nothing requires an embosser as a supplement. The practical caveat is scanning: an uninked raised impression will not survive the imaging most probate offices now do.
Notary embossing seal kits and inked stamp kits cover both formats. See also notary stamp vs. embosser.
The Alabama seal rules in circulation are mostly not Alabama law
Two dead-letter problems land on the same page, and between them they account for most of what is wrong online about Alabama seals.
The repealed sections. Section 36-20-4 and § 36-20-32, both titled “Seal”, were repealed by Act 2011-295 effective 1 January 2012, along with § 36-20-1, § 36-20-2 and the old register provisions. The only live seal statute in Alabama is § 36-20-72, in Article 4. Several commercial pages still quote the repealed sections as though they were current.
The size rule that is not yours. The Alabama spec people repeat, a circular or square seal of not less than one inch and not more than two, comes from Ala. Admin. Code r. 820-6-3-.01, which applies to civil-law notaries: Alabama Bar members admitted under § 36-20-50 and following who issue authentic acts. An ordinary Alabama notary public has no size or shape rule whatsoever.
And one for anyone selling you an Alabama electronic seal: there is no such thing. Alabama has no electronic or online notary commission, and § 36-20-73.1 authorizes only a remote appearance by the signer. The paper still has to reach you, because “all documents used during the two-way audio-video communication, shall be provided to the notary for his or her authentication and original signature”, and an original signature means wet ink. Your stamp does the same work it always did.
Do I need a new stamp when my commission is renewed or my name changes?
Terms run four years from the date of the commission. Renewal is a fresh application to the probate judge: the $10 application fee, the $25 commission fee, a $50,000 surety bond, and, for a commission that has already expired, the training program. That bond figure is the one that surprises people at renewal, having been raised tenfold from $5,000 by Act 2023-548 on 1 September 2023. No new stamp is required by law, because name, office and state do not change. Since Alabama stamps in commerce carry an expiration date by custom, a dated stamp has to be replaced; a stamp carrying only the three statutory elements is good indefinitely. A name change does require a new stamp, because the name must match the commission.
Not addressed. We checked §§ 36-20-70 through 36-20-75, the full text of Act 2023-548 (word-searched for address and change, with no occurrences), Admin. Code Title 820 and the Probate Judges Association materials. There is no statutory deadline and no designated recipient for a name or address change. Note that § 36-20-2, the old provision vacating the office on removal from the county, was repealed effective 1 January 2012, which fits notaries now being commissioned for the state at large, so moving within Alabama has no statutory reporting consequence. Tell the commissioning probate judge anyway.
What do I do if my Alabama notary stamp is lost or stolen?
Not addressed. No reporting duty, no deadline, no recipient. We checked §§ 36-20-70 to 36-20-75, Act 2023-548 (word-searched for lost, stolen, destroy and surrender, with no occurrence outside § 36-20-75(d)(3)), Admin. Code Title 820 and the Probate Judges Association pamphlet and training course. Report a theft to local law enforcement regardless, and tell the probate judge who commissioned you.
How do I dispose of an expired Alabama notary stamp?
Almost entirely not addressed. There is no self-executing duty to destroy, deface or surrender an Alabama seal at the end of a term. The only provision in the chapter is a court remedy for misconduct: the commissioning probate judge “may order injunctive relief against any individual who violates this chapter including, but not limited to, ordering the surrender and destruction of a notary commission and a notary seal”. Destroying the die anyway is the sensible course, given the Class D felony exposure for fraudulent acts and the Class C misdemeanor for acting on an expired commission.
More on retiring an old device in how to dispose of an expired notary stamp.
Can I notarize electronically or remotely in Alabama?
Alabama is the outlier of the four, and what is marketed as Alabama remote online notarization is not remote online notarization. There is no separate electronic or online notary commission, no registration, no approved-vendor list and no electronic seal specification anywhere in Chapter 20 or Admin. Code Title 820. Section 36-20-73.1 authorizes remote appearance only: the signer may appear by two-way audio-video provided the notary is physically in Alabama and the communication is recorded and kept for seven years. The provision that ends the argument is § 36-20-73.1(g): “All documents used during the two-way audio-video communication, shall be provided to the notary for his or her authentication and original signature.” An original signature is one “signed directly onto a document in wet ink”, and § 36-20-73.1(c) requires the notary’s own original signature. Identity for a remote appearance is personal knowledge, or two government-issued IDs (one with face and signature) plus verification against public or private data sources. Remote acts may not be used for absentee ballot applications, absentee ballot affidavits, or any voting purpose. There is no journal requirement at all: the old register sections were repealed in 2012 and Article 4 imposes none.
If you need your seal as an image file for electronic work, see electronic notary seal images.
Related Alabama guides
- Your Guide to Buying an Alabama Notary Seal Online
- Essential Tips for Getting Your Notary Seal for Alabama
Next step
Have your commission details in front of you before you order, because they go on the stamp and a wrong line means a reorder. Then browse notary public stamps, or call 804-359-0505 and we will check your wording against the statute before we make it.
Frequently asked questions about Alabama notary seals
Is a notary seal required in Alabama?
Yes. For the authentication of official acts each notary shall provide a seal of office presenting, by its impression, the name of the notary, the office and the state for which appointed.
What has to appear on an Alabama notary seal?
Three things: your name, the words “Notary Public”, and “State of Alabama”. Nothing else is required.
Does an Alabama notary seal show the county?
No, and this surprises people because you are commissioned by a county probate judge. An Alabama notary serves the state at large, so the seal names the state rather than the county. A seal made with a county on it is not wrong, but it is not required either.
What size must an Alabama notary seal be?
No size applies to an ordinary Alabama notary. The 1 to 2 inch circular or square rule you will find quoted all over the internet comes from an administrative regulation that binds civil-law notaries only, which is a separate and much rarer office. Do not order to that spec thinking it is required.
What ink color does Alabama require?
None. We word-searched the whole of the 2023 act that rewrote the Alabama notary statutes and found no mention of color, legibility or reproducibility for the seal. Pick a color that survives a photocopy.
Can I notarize remotely in Alabama?
Not in the way most people mean. Alabama's remote provisions still require the original wet-ink signature, so the paper has to physically reach you. There is no fully electronic remote online notarization in Alabama.
What do I do with my Alabama seal when my commission ends?
Alabama imposes no disposal duty and no lost-or-stolen reporting duty, and no journal requirement either. Destroying an expired seal is sensible practice rather than a legal obligation.
Why do I see conflicting Alabama notary seal rules online?
Because two of the old Alabama seal statutes were repealed effective 1 January 2012 and are still widely quoted as if live. Only one seal statute is currently in force. If a source cites the repealed sections, it has not been updated in over a decade.
