Kentucky does not require geologists to own a seal, but a seal or stamp a registrant does use follows the Board's authorized design and shows name, registration number and the legend Registered Professional Geologist. Neither the statute nor the Board's regulations set a size, device type or electronic standard. Sealing stops after suspension or revocation. This page covers each point.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Ky. Rev. Stat. § 322A.070 and the Kentucky Board of Registration for Professional Geologists. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Owning a seal | Optional. The statute says a registrant may obtain and use one. | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 322A.070(2), (4) |
| Name | Your name appears on the seal. | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 322A.070(2) |
| Registration number | Your number appears on the seal. | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 322A.070(2) |
| Legend | Registered Professional Geologist. | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 322A.070(2) |
| Design | Whatever design the Board authorizes. | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 322A.070(2) |
| Size and shape | None given, and the Board's regulations contain no seal rule. | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 322A.070 (silent) |
| Device type | The statute says seal or stamp and names nothing else. | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 322A.070(2) |
| Signature and date | Not required together, and no date rule exists. | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 322A.070(4) (silent as to date and placement) |
| Electronic seal | The geology chapter has no provision for one. | Ky. Rev. Stat. ch. 322A (no electronic seal provision) |
| Suspended or revoked certificate | No signing, stamping, sealing or certifying documents until the certificate is renewed or reissued. | Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 322A.060, 322A.070(3), (4) |
Do Kentucky geologists have to own a seal?
No. The wording of KRS 322A.070(2) is permissive: on registration, a registrant may get a seal or stamp and use it. The statute allows the device rather than requiring it, and the Board's regulations in 201 KAR chapter 031 add no requirement.
What the statute does make mandatory is a prohibition, covered below: nobody may sign, stamp, seal or certify documents under a suspended or revoked certificate. Compare other states in our summary of geologist seal rules in all 54 jurisdictions.
What does a Kentucky geologist seal show?
Three items: the registrant's name and registration number, plus the legend Registered Professional Geologist, laid out in the Board's authorized design. KRS 322A.070(2) lists nothing more, and the list applies to any seal or stamp you choose to use.
The list does not include the state name or any specialty designation. Use the legend Kentucky issues rather than a title another state's board uses. Kentucky architects follow a separate rule, covered in our page on Kentucky architect seal dimensions and the Commonwealth legend.
Who decides the design of a Kentucky geologist seal?
The Board. KRS 322A.070(2) describes a seal or stamp of the design authorized by the board, and no regulation publishes that design. The layout has to come from the Kentucky Board of Registration for Professional Geologists.
Chapter 031 of 201 KAR deals with matters such as fees, renewals, applications and exams, professional conduct, geologists-in-training and complaints. It contains no seal regulation.
Is there a required size or shape?
No. The statute gives no diameter, shape or proportion for the seal, and the Board's regulations in 201 KAR chapter 031 hold no seal rule that could supply one. The authorized design is the only source for dimensions.
Ask the Board for that design before ordering. Everything about size and layout follows from it.
Which kinds of device can you use?
KRS 322A.070(2) speaks of a seal or stamp of registration and names no other device. Terms such as embosser, digital or computer generated are absent from the section, and chapter 031 of 201 KAR adds nothing.
Kentucky engineers and land surveyors work under a different chapter with its own device rules. See Kentucky PE seal law on embossers and rubber stamps and the Kentucky land surveyor seal device rule.
Do you have to sign and date next to the seal?
The statute does not say. KRS 322A.070(4) mentions a signature and a seal as alternative acts it forbids after suspension or revocation, but it never requires them together and sets no date requirement.
Placement, and whether the signature crosses the impression, are also unaddressed. Kentucky engineers and land surveyors are treated differently: for those professions, KRS 322.340(3) calls for all three marks at once, meaning seal or stamp, signature, and date.
Which documents should carry the seal?
KRS chapter 322A does not list them. Section 322A.070 creates the seal and a prohibition without naming document types, and the prohibition reaches any reports or other documents a registrant might sign, stamp, seal or certify.
Section 322A.080 sets out exemptions from registration, and section 322A.090 holds the prohibitions on unregistered practice. Neither gives a list of documents to seal.
Does Kentucky have an electronic seal standard for geologists?
No. KRS chapter 322A has no electronic or digital seal provision for geologists, and 201 KAR chapter 031 has no seal regulation where one could appear. No technology or verification method is named either.
Standards written for Kentucky landscape architects, at 201 KAR 10:070 Section 2, and for engineers and land surveyors, at 201 KAR 18:104 Section 3, do not reach geologists. Our page on the Kentucky landscape architect two inch seal covers that profession.
When is sealing prohibited in Kentucky?
After your certificate has been suspended or revoked, and until it is renewed or reissued. KRS 322A.070(4) bars anyone from signing, stamping, sealing or certifying reports or other documents under that certificate during that period.
KRS 322A.060 covers renewal and permits suspension or revocation when renewal fees go unpaid, and 201 KAR 31:050 governs renewals. The statute does not say whether a device must be surrendered or whether your number changes on reinstatement.
Do Kentucky geology firms need a seal?
No. KRS chapter 322A registers individuals and has no business entity provision, so there is no firm registration, certificate of authorization or firm seal for geology. Kentucky engineering and surveying firms, by contrast, need a business entity permit under KRS 322.060 and 201 KAR 18:180.
Notaries in Kentucky are commissioned under separate law; see our page on how Kentucky notaries decide whether to use a seal.
What should you settle before ordering, and how do you check the result?
Get the Board's authorized design, confirm your name and registration number, and make sure the legend reads Registered Professional Geologist. Those are the only fixed inputs; everything else comes from the design.
On the first impression, compare it with the Board's design, check each digit of the number, and confirm nothing from another state's seal has slipped in. Before first use, also confirm your certificate is not suspended or revoked.
Frequently asked questions
If the seal is optional, can I issue reports without one?
The statute makes the seal available rather than compulsory, and chapter 322A lists no documents that must be sealed. Nothing in the statute or chapter 031 of 201 KAR requires a seal on a particular report.
Can I add the state name to my Kentucky seal?
The statutory list leaves it out. Whether it appears depends on the design the Board authorizes, so follow that design.
Does my seal need replacing when my certificate renews?
Nothing in KRS 322A.070 ties the device to a renewal cycle, and none of the three statutory items is a date.
What if my certificate is lost or damaged?
KRS 322A.070(3) provides for a replacement certificate when the original is lost, destroyed or mutilated, under the Board's regulations. The statute says nothing about replacing a seal.
Does the ban apply to an expired certificate, or only a suspended or revoked one?
The words of KRS 322A.070(4) are suspended or revoked. KRS 322A.060 separately allows suspension or revocation for unpaid renewal fees, so a missed renewal can lead into the ban.
Once you have the Board's authorized design, browse our Kentucky stamps and seals to order a seal or stamp with your name, registration number and legend.
