New Texas Notary Law in 2026: What SB693's Education Requirement Means for You

If you are applying to become a Texas notary in 2026, or your commission is up for renewal, the rules are different than they were last year. Senate Bill 693 took effect on January 1, 2026, and for the first time in Texas history, every new and renewing notary has to complete an education course and pass an exam before the Secretary of State will issue a commission.

This guide walks through exactly what changed, what didn’t, what it costs, and what you have to do to comply. We’ll also explain where the $10,000 notary bond fits into the process — because the bond requirement itself is the one piece SB693 left alone.

The short version: what changed on January 1, 2026

Before 2026, becoming a Texas notary meant filling out an application, posting a $10,000 surety bond, paying a $21 filing fee, and waiting for the Secretary of State to mail your commission certificate. There was no test. There was no required class. If you were 18, a Texas resident with no disqualifying felony, and could write a check, you could be a notary.

SB693 added two new steps to that process:

A mandatory education course delivered directly by the Texas Secretary of State.
A 20-question assessment with a passing score of 70%.

That’s the entire scope of the change. The bond, the application, the four-year commission term, and the filing fee all work the same way they did before. The education and exam are a new gateway in front of those existing steps.

One important carve-out: notaries who were appointed before September 1, 2025 are exempt from the education and exam requirement until their current commission expires. If you renewed in mid-2025, you keep operating under the old rules until your renewal date in 2029.

SB693 in plain English

Here’s what the law actually says, translated out of statute-speak.

Who has to take the course. Every new applicant for a Texas notary public commission, plus every notary applying to renew an existing commission that was originally issued on or after September 1, 2025. The legislature carved out the pre-Sept-2025 notaries to avoid forcing thousands of working notaries through education mid-commission.

Who provides the course. The Texas Secretary of State, exclusively. This is a meaningful change from how most other states run their notary programs — Texas did not authorize private vendors, third-party online schools, or trade associations to deliver SB693-compliant training. If a course isn’t on the Secretary of State’s notary public page, it doesn’t satisfy the requirement.

How long the course is. Two hours of instructional video for an initial appointment, and two hours for a renewal. The content covers basic notary practices: identifying signers, journaling, types of acknowledgments and jurats, prohibited acts, and the new electronic and remote notarization rules.

What’s on the exam. Twenty questions drawn from the course content. You need 12 right (70%) to pass. If you fail, you can retake it — but each attempt costs another $20.

What it costs to take the course and exam. $20 per assessment attempt, paid directly to the Secretary of State.

That’s the whole picture. There is no in-person component, no continuing education calendar, and no recertification cycle inside the four-year commission. One course, one test, one bond filing — and you’re commissioned for four years.

What hasn’t changed

This is where a lot of the panic on notary forums has been wrong. SB693 did not touch the bond, the fee structure, or the term length. The pre-existing rules still apply:

Bond amount: $10,000 surety bond, filed with the Secretary of State as part of your application.
Bond term: 4 years, matching your commission term.
Bond cost: Typically $40 to $70 for the full 4-year term, depending on the issuing surety. We issue the $10,000 Texas notary bond in well under that range, often same-day.
Application fee: $21 to the Secretary of State. That breaks down as $10 commission fee, $10 bond filing fee, $1 archive fee.
Commission term: 4 years.
Eligibility: 18 or older, Texas resident, no felony or crime of moral turpitude in the last 10 years.

The bond is not optional and it is not insurance for you. A surety bond is a three-party financial guarantee: you (the principal) post the bond, the public (the obligee) is protected by it, and the surety (the bonding company) pays out a valid claim if you make a notarial error that costs someone money — then collects from you. It’s closer to a line of credit than to an insurance policy. You’re always on the hook for what the surety pays.

What it costs to become a Texas notary in 2026

Adding it all up:

Item	Cost	Paid to
Notary education course (included with assessment)	$20 (per attempt)	Texas Secretary of State
Application fee	$21	Texas Secretary of State
$10,000 surety bond (4-year term)	$40–$70	Bonding agency
Total to start (one attempt)	$81–$111	—

If you fail the exam on the first try, add $20 per retake. Most applicants pass the first time. The content is procedural rather than legal, and the Secretary of State’s videos cover the question pool directly.

We publish full premium ranges across every bond type on our cost-by-bond page if you want to compare.

Step by step: how to become a Texas notary under SB693

If you’re starting from zero today, here’s the order of operations.

1. Confirm you’re eligible. You need to be at least 18, a Texas resident, and free of any felony conviction or crime of moral turpitude in the last 10 years. If you have a record you’re unsure about, get a written eligibility opinion before paying any fees — the Secretary of State will not refund application fees for rejected applicants.

2. Take the Secretary of State’s education course. This is a video module hosted on the Secretary of State’s website. It runs about two hours. You can pause and resume. There’s no proctoring requirement for the course itself.

3. Pass the 20-question assessment. You need 12 of 20 correct. The $20 fee covers one attempt. Plan to take notes during the course — the Secretary of State has not published a separate study guide, so the videos are your study material.

4. Apply for your commission. Once you’ve passed the exam, file your notary application electronically through the Secretary of State’s portal. Upload your bond and pay the $21 application fee at the same time.

5. Post your $10,000 surety bond. Most applicants order the bond from a Texas-licensed surety agency before they file the application, because the bond number has to appear on the application form. You can have a $10,000 4-year bond issued the same day — we typically turn them around in under an hour. Start a notary bond application here.

6. Wait for your commission certificate. The Secretary of State will issue your commission within 10 business days once the application, bond, and exam confirmation are all on file. Order your notary seal and journal from a supply vendor as soon as you have your commission number — you cannot notarize anything without both.

Common mistakes to avoid

A few traps that have already tripped up 2026 applicants.

Buying the bond before passing the exam, then waiting too long to file. The bond starts on its effective date, not when you file the application. If you buy the bond in January, pass the exam in February, then sit on the paperwork until May, you’ve burned four months of a four-year term. Time the bond purchase to within a few weeks of when you plan to file.

Assuming a third-party course satisfies SB693. It does not. Several online notary schools are still advertising “Texas-approved” courses. Some of those courses are useful study material, but they do not replace the Secretary of State’s official assessment. If you take a third-party course, you still have to pay $20 and take the SOS exam.

Letting a pre-September-2025 commission lapse. If you were appointed before September 1, 2025, you can renew under the old rules right up until your commission expires. But if you let it expire and reapply, you are a new applicant under SB693 and you have to complete the education and exam. Renew on time.

Forgetting the bond is renewable, not transferable. Your $10,000 notary bond expires on the same day your commission does. You need a new bond every four years, not a renewal endorsement. Plan for the cost at the four-year mark.

Frequently asked questions

Does SB693 apply to me if I renewed my commission in August 2025? No. Any notary commissioned before September 1, 2025 is exempt from the education and exam requirement for the duration of that commission. You’ll need to complete it when you renew in 2029.

Can I take the SB693 course online? Yes. The Secretary of State delivers the course entirely online as video modules. You take the assessment online as well. There is no in-person component for the standard notary commission.

How much is the Texas notary bond in 2026? The bond amount is $10,000 for a 4-year term, unchanged by SB693. The premium you pay for the bond typically runs $40 to $70 depending on the surety. We issue most Texas notary bonds same-day.

What happens if I fail the exam? You can retake it. Each attempt costs $20. There’s no published cap on retakes, but the Secretary of State recommends rewatching the relevant course modules before each attempt.

Do I need a separate bond if I want to do electronic or remote notarizations? You need to register separately as an online notary public, which has its own application and its own fee. The $10,000 traditional notary bond is the baseline; electronic and remote authorizations are additional registrations on top of that.

Where do I file the application? The Texas Secretary of State accepts notary applications electronically through their notary public portal. Paper applications are still accepted but processing is slower.

Is the bond refundable if I never use it? No. Surety bond premiums are fully earned at the time of issue. If you change your mind after the bond is posted, you can withdraw your application, but the surety keeps the premium.