Notary bond: the amount your state requires, its cost, and which company can issue it

What a notary bond does, and what it does not

A notary bond is a three-party contract. The notary is the principal, the state is the obligee, and the surety company guarantees that someone harmed by a faulty notarization can be paid up to the bond amount. If the surety pays, it then turns to the notary for repayment. The bond therefore protects the person who relied on the notarial act, never the notary. A notary who wants protection for themselves buys errors and omissions insurance, a separate policy that most states do not require and that, in Louisiana since 2026, can no longer replace the bond.

The bond is filed with the commission. In Texas it is approved by the Secretary of State and made payable to the governor; in California it is filed with the county clerk along with the oath within thirty days; in Arizona it is bought in duplicate, one copy going to the Secretary of State. Missing that filing deadline voids the commission in several states, so the bond is bought before, not after, the appointment.

The amounts, state by state

Most states settled on $10,000: Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. Below that, Wisconsin still asks for $500, an amount unchanged for decades, and Arizona and Illinois $5,000. Above it, Florida sets $7,500, California $15,000, and Indiana $25,000 for a commission that runs 8 years. Alabama and Louisiana are at $50,000, the highest amounts read: Alabama raised its bond from $25,000 by Act 2023-548, and Louisiana's new rule took effect on February 1, 2026.

Colorado is the clearest exception: its notary program requires no bond at all, although some notaries buy one voluntarily. Electronic and remote notaries sometimes need more. California asks for a second $15,000 bond for online notarization, Illinois a $25,000 bond on top of the $5,000 one, and Utah a separate bond for remote notaries.

What the bond costs

Notary bonds are among the cheapest surety bonds because claims are rare and small. Sureties sell them at a flat price for the whole term instead of a yearly rate, and do not check credit in most cases. Three states publish a figure themselves. Michigan's Department of State says its $10,000 bond generally costs $50 to $100. Utah's notary site puts the $5,000 bond at about $50. A 2025 Tennessee report put that state's $10,000 bond at $30 to $55. Across published offers, a $10,000 bond usually costs $30 to $100 for the whole commission and a $25,000 bond $75 to $250.

Bundles change the price you see. Many vendors sell the bond together with a seal, a journal, errors and omissions insurance and filing help, at $100 to $200 or more. Only the bond is required by law in bonded states. Compare the bond line alone before buying a package.

The 2026 changes

3 states in our table changed their amount recently. Pennsylvania's increase to $25,000 applies to commissions from March 28, 2026; a notary commissioned before then keeps the $10,000 bond until renewal. Louisiana now requires a $50,000 bond of every notary, where a $10,000 bond or an insurance policy used to be accepted. Indiana moved to $25,000 with its eight-year commissions, and a notary holding an older $5,000 bond keeps it until the commission ends.

Which company can issue a notary bond

A notary bond is not bought from the state. The Secretary of State, or the county clerk, receives and files it, but the bond itself is written by a surety company, and the law names the kind of company it accepts. Texas asks for a surety company authorized to do business in Texas; California asks for an admitted surety insurer, which rules out a cash deposit in its place. Most notaries never deal with the surety directly: they buy through a bonding agency or a notary supply vendor that issues the bond on a surety's paper and often files the application too.

Two checks protect you. First, the surety named on the bond form must hold a license from the state's department of insurance, which every state lets you verify online. Second, the form must be the one the state prints, with the exact obligee and amount; a bond on the wrong form is returned and the commission waits. Price differences between vendors come mostly from the extras bundled with the bond, not from the bond itself.

Term and renewal

The bond must cover the whole commission, so its term follows the commission: four years in most states, six in Michigan, eight in Indiana. A new bond is bought at each renewal, at the amount in force at that time. That is how increases reach existing notaries: not overnight, but at their next commission. Moving to another state ends the commission in most cases, and the new state's amount then applies.

Before filing, check two details on the state page: who the bond must name as obligee, and whether the state accepts an electronic filing or wants the original with a raised seal. Michigan, for example, exempts attorneys from its separate bond rules in some cases; Texas lets errors and omissions coverage sit alongside the bond but never in its place.