The Secretary may revoke the commission of any notary who:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 47.1-23

  • certificate: means the part of, or attachment to, a notarized document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public's signature, title, commission expiration date, notary registration number, and other required information concerning the date and place of the notarization and states the facts attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular notarization. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • notary: means any person commissioned to perform official acts under the title, and includes an electronic notary except where expressly provided otherwise. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
  • Official misconduct: means any violation of this title by a notary, whether committed knowingly, willfully, recklessly or negligently. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
  • Seal: means a device for affixing on a paper document an image containing the notary's name and other information related to the notary's commission. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
  • State: includes any state, territory, or possession of the United States. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
  • United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.

1. Submits or has submitted an application for commission and appointment as a notary public which contains a substantial and material misstatement of fact;

2. Is convicted or has been convicted of any felony under the laws of the United States or this Commonwealth, or the laws of any other state, unless the notary has been pardoned for such offense, has had his conviction vacated by a granting of a writ of actual innocence, or has had his rights restored;

3. Is found to have committed official misconduct by a proceeding as provided in Chapter 5 (§ 47.1-24 et seq.);

4. Fails to exercise the powers or perform the duties of a notary public in accordance with this title, provided that if a notary is adjudged liable in any court of the Commonwealth in any action grounded in fraud, misrepresentation, impersonation, or violation of the notary laws of the Commonwealth, such notary shall be presumed removable under this section;

5. Performs a prohibited act pursuant to § 47.1-15 or 47.1-15.1;

6. Is convicted of the unauthorized practice of law pursuant to § 54.1-3904, or is a licensed attorney at law whose license is suspended or revoked;

7. Ceases to be a legal resident of the United States;

8. Becomes incapable of reading or writing the English language;

9. Is adjudicated mentally incompetent; or

10. Fails to keep the official physical seal, journal, or device, coding, disk, certificate, card, software, or passwords used to affix the notary’s official electronic signature or seal under the exclusive control of the notary when not in use.

Code 1950, § 47-2; 1962, p. 687; 1976, c. 559; 1979, c. 14; 1980, c. 580; 1983, c. 435; 2007, cc. 269, 590; 2013, c. 86; 2014, cc. 544, 783.

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