8.3 "Notario Publico" False Advertising & Mandatory Bilingual Disclosures (A.C.A. § 4-109-103)

8.3 “Notario” Advertising Notice

The Spanish title “notario” can imply legal authority very different from the limited Arkansas notary commission. A.C.A. §§ 4-109-101 through 4-109-105 address that risk through a targeted advertising rule.

What triggers the rule

The statute applies when a notary chooses to use “notario,” “notario publico,” or a similar term in an advertisement. It does not say that every advertisement in any language automatically triggers the notice. The trigger is use of those terms or similar titles.

A person may not advertise services with those terms unless the person is an Arkansas notary as defined in the chapter and follows the notice requirement. An attorney licensed in Arkansas is exempt from this chapter.

Required notice

The advertisement must include this statutory English notice:

I AM NOT A LICENSED ATTORNEY AND CANNOT ENGAGE IN THE PRACTICE OF LAW. I AM NOT A REPRESENTATIVE OF ANY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY WITH AUTHORITY OVER IMMIGRATION OR CITIZENSHIP AND I CANNOT OFFER LEGAL ADVICE OR OTHER ASSISTANCE REGARDING IMMIGRATION.

The notice must be provided in both English and Spanish. The statute supplies the English wording and requires the Spanish presentation; a notary should use the official or professionally accurate Spanish version rather than improvising a weaker paraphrase.

What the notice communicates

The notice separates three roles:

• commissioned notary public;
• licensed attorney; and
• government representative with immigration or citizenship authority.

Holding the first role does not grant the other two. The notary may perform lawful notarial acts but may not use the title to imply an ability to provide immigration legal advice, select filings, or act for a government agency.

Enforcement

A violation of the chapter is an unconscionable or deceptive act or practice under A.C.A. §§ 4-88-101 through 4-88-115. The notary administrative statute also permits denial or revocation for knowingly false or misleading advertising about powers, duties, rights, or privileges the notary does not possess.

Do not add unsupported requirements to the rule. Section 4-109-103, as enacted, does not itself require every multilingual notary to post a bilingual fee schedule, prescribe one-inch letters, or state a universal $10,000 automatic fine. Advertising design and consumer-protection remedies may be governed by other law and facts, but the exam-ready notario rule is the bilingual statutory notice.

Why exact wording matters

The notice is designed to counter a specific mistaken impression. Replacing it with “not a lawyer” omits the government-representative and immigration-advice statements. Use the statutory language in the advertisement rather than a summary.

Scenario

A nonattorney notary prints a Spanish-language card headed “Notario Publico” and offers help selecting immigration forms. Even if the person holds a valid notary commission, the card violates the notice rule without the English-and-Spanish statutory notice, and selecting forms or giving immigration legal advice exceeds notarial authority.

If the same notary advertises “Servicios de notario” with the required bilingual notice and limits services to lawful notarizations, the special notice requirement is addressed. The notary must still comply with all ordinary identity, appearance, certificate, and fee rules.

Exam focus

Remember the precise trigger, the two languages, and the substance of the notice. Do not confuse the advertising statute with a blanket prohibition on speaking Spanish or with a separate electronic-notary disclosure.

Apply the rule across each advertisement that uses the triggering title: storefront signs, printed cards, websites, social-media profiles, and paid listings can each communicate the same misleading impression. The safest implementation is to place the full bilingual notice directly with the triggering service description rather than hide it on an unrelated page.

The notice does not expand the notary's authority. Even after proper disclosure, a nonattorney notary still cannot prepare an immigration strategy, choose a visa category, represent a customer before an agency, or imply government sponsorship. The customer should be referred to a licensed attorney or an appropriately authorized immigration-service resource for those requests.

Source anchor: Act 66 of 2005; A.C.A. §§ 4-109-101 through 4-109-105; Arkansas Secretary of State, Arkansas Notary Public Handbook (rev. 1-2025), “Notario Publico.”