Every claim below carries its citation and the source it was checked against. Sections still in verification say so rather than guess.
Fees
The fee has to include every duty needed to complete the act, so there is no lawful add-on for the stamp or the certificate. It is a ceiling, not a set price.
C.R.S. §24-21-529(1)
Cross-checked · CO SOS Notary Handbook (rev. April 2024)
Fees · Electronic
It replaces the document fee rather than adding to it, so a signer pays one or the other. Like the $15 it is a maximum.
C.R.S. §24-21-529(2)
Cross-checked · CO SOS Notary Handbook (rev. April 2024)
Acts · Certified copies
Records available from a Colorado clerk and recorder, the Secretary of State, the state archives or vital records are excluded — so a Colorado birth certificate is out, while another state's is not.
C.R.S. §24-21-505(4)
Cross-checked · CO SOS Notary Handbook (rev. April 2024)
Identification
Colorado also accepts the notary's personal knowledge of the signer, or a credible witness who appears in person and swears to the signer's identity.
C.R.S. §24-21-507(2)
Cross-checked · CO SOS Notary Handbook (rev. April 2024)
Journal
The entry records the date and time, the document, who it was for, how they were identified — and the fee charged. A paper journal must be a bound register with numbered pages.
C.R.S. §24-21-519
Cross-checked · CO SOS Notary Handbook (rev. April 2024)
Remote Notarization
The signer can be in Colorado, elsewhere in the United States, or abroad where the record relates to a U.S. court, property or transaction.
C.R.S. §24-21-514.5(2)
Cross-checked · CO SOS Notary Handbook (rev. April 2024)
Apostille
The apostille certifies that the notary's commission was current and in good standing — not that the contents of the document are true.
Colorado Secretary of State
Cross-checked · CO SOS Notary Handbook (rev. April 2024)
Becoming a notary
The exam follows a course of study the Secretary of State offers or approves, and a private contractor may run it for a fee. First-time applicants take the exam; the term is four years.
C.R.S. §24-21-521(3), (6); §24-21-522
Cross-checked · CO SOS Notary Handbook (rev. April 2024)
Complaints
That process decides the commission only. Damages come from a civil suit and criminal penalties from a prosecution — neither is something the Secretary of State awards.
C.R.S. §24-21-523
Cross-checked · CO SOS Notary Handbook (rev. April 2024)
Straight answer · What these guides are
These guides explain how notarization works: the fees, the acts, the process. They won't tell you which document your situation needs, and neither will any notary. Notaries public are not attorneys and cannot give legal or immigration advice. For that, talk to a lawyer.
The same rule that governs our directory governs these pages: we publish what the state publishes, cite it, and stop there.