10.3 Resignation and Term Expiration

When the Commission Ends, Authority Ends Instantly

A California notary commission runs for 4 years. It can end four ways: expiration, resignation, removal/disqualification, or revocation. The instant it ends, your authority to notarize stops — there is no grace period for finishing a client's document. The exam tests two artifacts heavily: the seal and the journal, each tied to a 30-day clock.

Renewing vs. Not Renewing

The single most important branch: are you reappointed within 30 days?

If you ARE renewing (reappointed within 30 days):

• Complete the 3-hour refresher education course (renewing notaries; first-timers take 6 hours).
• Pass the state examination and clear a background check.
• Obtain a new $15,000 bond and file a new oath with the county clerk.
• Keep your active journal — you continue recording in it; you do not surrender it.

If you are NOT renewing:

• Stop performing notarial acts on the expiration date.
• Destroy the seal within 30 days.
• Deliver the journal(s) to the county clerk within 30 days.

Resignation Procedure

To resign before your term ends:

1. Notify the Secretary of State in writing (use the SOS resignation form), stating the effective date.
2. Destroy your seal so it cannot be reconstructed.
3. Deliver all journals to the clerk of the county where your oath is on file — within 30 days.
4. Cease all notarial acts as of the resignation date.

Seal Destruction — Make It Permanent

Destroying the seal protects you: a surviving seal in the wrong hands is the raw material for forged notarizations attributed to your name.

Journal Disposition — The Misdemeanor Trap

This is the highest-stakes rule in the chapter. When a notary resigns, is removed or disqualified, or lets the commission expire without reappointment within 30 days, all notarial journals and papers must be delivered to the clerk of the county where the official oath is on file, within 30 days.

• Willful failure or refusal to deliver the journal is a misdemeanor — and the former notary is personally liable for damages to anyone injured by the failure.
• Contrast this with the address-change failure (an infraction, $500). Journal failure is the more serious offense.
• The retain-7-years rule applies while you remain commissioned and keep the journal; once you stop being a notary without reappointment, the journal goes to the county clerk, who holds it as a public record.

End-of-Commission Quick Reference

Revocation, Removal, and Suspension

Not every ending is voluntary. The Secretary of State may revoke or suspend a commission for cause — for example, conviction of a disqualifying crime, fraudulent acts, failure to discharge duties, or providing false information on the application. A court may also order removal. In all of these the same end-of-commission mechanics apply: the seal is destroyed and the journal goes to the county clerk within 30 days. The difference is that the notary did not choose the timing, and the underlying misconduct may carry its own criminal or civil penalties on top of the loss of the commission.

Practitioner Checklist When Winding Down

Worked Scenario — The Tempting "Just One More"

A notary's commission expired yesterday. A longtime client begs for one acknowledgment to close escrow "before the seal goes away." The correct answer is no: authority ended at expiration. Performing the act would be an unauthorized notarization — void, potentially criminal, and outside any bond or errors-and-omissions coverage. The client must use a currently commissioned notary.

After the Commission Ends

Once the commission is over and not renewed, you have no authority to notarize. Any notarization you perform is void and exposes you to civil liability and potential criminal charges for acting as a notary without a commission. Remember the difference in stakes: failing to report an address change is an infraction ($500), but willfully failing to deliver your journal is a misdemeanor with personal liability for damages. The clean exit is simple to memorize: stop notarizing, destroy the seal, deliver the journal — all within 30 days.