Every claim below carries its citation and the source it was checked against. Sections still in verification say so rather than guess.
Fees
A ceiling, not a set price. Administering an oath or affirmation is a separate $10. These amounts are inflation-adjusted by the Secretary of State every five years.
Tex. Gov't Code §406.024(a)(5)
Cross-checked · Texas SOS published fee schedule
Fees · Online
The $25 stacks rather than replaces: the Secretary of State's own example puts a one-signature online notarization at $35. Online notaries need not charge it at all.
Tex. Gov't Code §406.111
Cross-checked · Texas SOS online notary materials
Acts · Certified copies
Birth and death certificates, marriage licences, divorce decrees and judgments are recordable, so certified copies of those come from the issuing agency, not a notary.
Tex. Gov't Code §406.016(a)(5)
Cross-checked · Texas SOS notary materials
Identification
If someone introduces the signer, the notary records that person's name and mailing address. Texas sets no separate oath or personally-known requirement for the introducer.
Tex. Gov't Code §406.014(a)(5)
Cross-checked · Texas SOS notary materials
Journal
On payment of the copying fee a notary must provide a certified copy of any record in the book to anyone who asks. Texas requires no thumbprint, and the book may be kept electronically.
Tex. Gov't Code §406.014(a)–(c)
Cross-checked · Texas SOS notary materials
Online Notarization
Identity is confirmed over two-way video and audio, either from the notary's personal knowledge or by remote presentation of a photo ID plus credential analysis and identity proofing.
Tex. Gov't Code §406.110
Cross-checked · Texas SOS online notary materials
Apostille
Texas issues a universal Apostille that works as both an authentication and an apostille. Countries outside the Apostille Convention need further authentication from the U.S. State Department.
Texas Secretary of State
Cross-checked · Texas SOS apostille guidance
Becoming a notary
The course can only be the Secretary of State's — no private course counts toward it. A $10,000 bond goes to the Secretary of State, and the term is four years.
Tex. Gov't Code §406.004(a); §406.006; §406.023(d); §406.010(a)
Cross-checked · Texas SOS, Notary Public Eligibility Requirements
Complaints
It can reprimand, suspend or revoke a commission — it can't award damages, obtain restitution, or rule on whether your document is valid. Complaints can't be anonymous.
Tex. Gov't Code §406.009; 1 TAC §87.32
Cross-checked · Texas SOS, Notary Complaints and Notary Complaint FAQs
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.