5.1 Anatomy of a Complete Notarial Certificate & Venue

5.1 Complete Certificates, Venue, and Assisted Signatures

The certificate is the notary's written account of the act. A stamp and signature without certificate wording do not explain who appeared, what occurred, where it occurred, or when. The handbook therefore calls the signature and seal the finishing touches, not the entire notarization.

Four core certificate facts

The handbook identifies these essentials:

1. the notary's official signature as filed with the Secretary of State;
2. the compliant official seal;
3. the venue or location of the act; and
4. the date of the act.

The certificate wording must also describe the act—such as an acknowledgment or a subscription and oath—and should identify the signer when the form requests it. The commission expiration date appears in the sample forms and on the seal.

Venue

Venue records the notary's location when the act occurred. For an ordinary physical act, it is where the notary and signer were physically located. It is independent of the notary's county of commission.

Suppose a notary's bond is filed in Benton County, the document concerns Garland County land, and the ceremony occurs in Washington County. The seal says Benton County; the legal description may mention Garland County; the certificate venue is State of Arkansas, County of Washington.

For an online act, the notary must be physically in Arkansas and the certificate should use that Arkansas location and include the statutory notation that it was an online notarization. It does not use the remote signer's foreign or out-of-state location as the Arkansas venue.

Complete before signing and sealing

The handbook identifies an incomplete certificate when information is known or believed false, the notary signs or seals while blanks remain, the notary applies the signature or seal at a time other than the signing in the notary's presence except as electronic law permits, or the notary pre-signs or pre-seals before the client signs.

Fill every certificate blank before the document leaves. Use the actual date; do not backdate or postdate. If multiple people appear separately, use certificates that accurately reflect each appearance rather than one statement implying everyone appeared together.

The handbook does not prescribe a universal correction-fluid rule or a mandatory strike-through formula. If an error occurs, follow the receiving office's rules or prepare a fresh certificate that truthfully reports the act. Never alter substantive document terms as though the notary were the drafter.

Signature by mark

A person who uses a mark instead of a customary signature may make a legal mark on a notarized document when:

• the mark is made in the notary's presence;
• at least one disinterested person witnesses it; and
• the notary writes below the mark: “Mark affixed by [name of signer by mark] in the presence of [name of witness].”

The notary then completes the appropriate certificate. The witness is additional to the notary and must be disinterested.

Principal physically unable to sign or mark

If the principal cannot physically sign or make a mark, a disinterested third party may sign the principal's name only when:

1. the principal directs that person to sign;
2. the direction and signing occur in the presence of the notary and two disinterested witnesses;
3. each witness signs beside the signature in the notary's presence;
4. the notary writes the handbook's notation identifying the third party, the directing principal, and both witnesses; and
5. the notary properly completes the certificate.

This accommodation addresses physical inability, not absence or lack of understanding. The principal must still direct the act and participate in the notarial ceremony.

Certificate checklist

Before releasing the document, verify the correct act wording, actual Arkansas county, actual date, names, official signature, commission expiration information, and seal. Confirm that the text reports events that occurred. A neat certificate that states a false venue or nonexistent appearance is not valid practice.

If a preprinted certificate names a different signer or describes an act that was not requested, do not merely stamp beside it. Obtain instructions and correct certificate wording from the signer, drafter, or receiving agency. The notary owns the truth of the certificate but does not choose the customer's legal objective.

Source anchor: Arkansas Secretary of State, Arkansas Notary Public Handbook (rev. 1-2025), “Using a Mark to Sign,” “Physically Unable to Sign,” “Complete Notarial Certificate,” and “Incomplete Notarial Certificates”; A.C.A. § 21-14-107.