New Texas Notary Laws and Rules 2026-89(R) – 2025 Legislature

Houston Metropolitan Paralegal Association

Join HMPA for an insightful session with Matthew Darby, Co-Founder of Notary.io, where you will learn about significant amendments to the Texas Notary laws. You can’t miss these crucial updates!

Learning Objective:

1. Strengthen Notary Qualification Standards and Mandatory Education
Objective: Ensure all Texas notary applicants and renewing notaries meet enhanced qualification standards by completing required education and demonstrating competency in notarial law and practice. Under the new law (Senate Bill 693), Texas now requires completion of a notary education course (no more than two hours) established and offered by the Texas Secretary of State before appointment or reappointment as a notary public. Applicants must pay the applicable course fee and successfully answer a minimum of questions presented during the course as part of the application process. These requirements apply to applications submitted on or after January 1, 2026.

2. Codify Personal Appearance and Criminal Liability for Improper Notarizations
Objective: Clarify and enforce strict legal standards requiring personal appearance of signers and establish criminal liability for notaries who knowingly violate these standards. The updated notary law makes it a criminal offense for a notary public to perform a notarization with knowledge that the signer (or other principal) did not personally appear before the notary at the time the act was executed.

3. Expand Recordkeeping and Compliance Obligations
Objective: Enhance the accountability and traceability of notarial acts by extending the mandatory retention period for notarial records and strengthening grounds for disciplinary action against notaries. New provisions require notaries to retain notarial records for at least 10 years from the date of notarization, extending historical retention obligations.

CLE Hours = 1 Substantive