A Mississippi registered professional geologist must sign, seal and date each sheet of geologic work with the seal the Board adopts for registrants, placed near your typeset name, which is followed by a comma, one space and RPG without periods. No size is stated. The rules name no device. This page covers the seal, the name line, review wording, large print runs and lapse.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101, R. 1.15 and the Mississippi State Board of Registered Professional Geologists. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Source of the seal | The Board adopts the seal used by registrants on its roster. | 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101, R. 1.15 |
| Face wording | No list of words. The rules govern how and where the seal is used. | 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101, R. 1.15 |
| Diameter and shape | Not stated anywhere in Rule 1.15 or Rules 10.1 to 10.5. | 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101, R. 1.15 (Board adopted design, no dimension stated) |
| Device | None named. The rules speak only of signing, sealing and dating. | 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101, R. 10.3, 10.4 (no device named) |
| Certification | Signature, seal and date together, on every sheet. | 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101, R. 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 |
| Name line | Typeset name, a comma, one blank space, then RPG with no periods. The seal sits near it. | 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101, R. 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 |
| Documents covered | Geologic work products in general, from reports and maps to cross sections, charts, graphs, illustrations and bulletins. | 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101, R. 10.1, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5 |
| Electronic seal | No provision, and no technology or verification standard named. | 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101 (no electronic seal provision located) |
| Lapse | The seal rules do not address it. | 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101 (silent as to the device on lapse) |
| Firm seal | None prescribed. Certification duties rest with the individual registrant. | 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101 (no firm seal provision) |
Do Mississippi geologists need a seal?
Yes. Rule 1.15 of 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 1101 has the Board adopt a seal for the registrants on its roster, and Rule 10.1 requires every sheet to carry that seal together with your signature and the date.
Rule 10.1 treats those three marks as one certification, so a sheet missing any of them is not certified. For how other states set their geologist seal rules, see our geologist seal rules across all 54 jurisdictions.
What does the Mississippi geologist seal show?
The design the Board adopts. Rule 1.15 puts the design in the Board's hands, and the Part 1101 rules that follow deal with use and placement on the document rather than listing words for the face of the seal.
Get the adopted artwork from the Mississippi State Board of Registered Professional Geologists before you order. Mississippi's other design boards write their own face and size rules, which our pages on the Mississippi engineer seal legend and size range and the Mississippi architect stamp describe. None of them applies to an RPG.
What size and shape does the rule require?
None at all. Rule 1.15 and Rules 10.1 to 10.5 give no diameter, no shape and no proportion for a registrant's seal, so the dimensions follow whatever design the Board has adopted.
A figure published for Mississippi engineers, surveyors, architects or landscape architects belongs to that board, so do not borrow one to fill the gap. Our page on the Mississippi landscape architect seal shows how another board sets its own size.
Which device should carry the seal?
The rules leave that to you. Part 1101 talks about signing, sealing and dating and names no embosser, no rubber stamp and no computer generated seal, so the choice of device is yours.
Pick one that leaves a clean impression beside the typeset name on maps, illustrations, reports and bulletins, since Rules 10.3 and 10.4 place the seal there. If you also hold a notary commission, that stamp follows separate rules; see our page on Mississippi notary stamp rules.
How should your name appear on maps and reports?
As your typeset name, then a comma, then one blank space, then RPG with no periods. Rule 10.3 sets that format for maps and illustrations, and Rule 10.4 extends the same treatment to reports and bulletins.
The seal then sits near that typeset name. This is a rule about the document rather than the face of the seal, so build it into your title block and your report signature page. Written out, it looks like this: Jordan Smith, RPG.
Who may sign, seal and date a sheet?
Three registrants qualify under Rule 10.1: the one who prepared the sheet, the one under whose direct supervisory control it was prepared, or one who reviewed it in sufficient depth.
The duty runs sheet by sheet. A set of maps or a bound report carries the certification on each sheet unless the large print concession in Rule 10.5 applies.
What wording goes with a review certification?
A prescribed sentence. When a geologic study or project is certified on the strength of review, Rule 10.2 supplies the wording: a statement that your review of the document went in sufficient depth to accept full responsibility for what it contains.
Take the exact sentence from Rule 10.2 rather than composing your own version, and include it whenever you certify work on the basis of review.
How do the rules sort geologic work products?
By document type. The rules reach geologic work products in general, naming reports, maps, cross sections, drawings, charts, graphs, descriptions, illustrations and bulletins, then sort them into groups. Rule 10.3 handles maps and illustrations, Rule 10.4 handles reports and bulletins, and Rule 10.5 handles pamphlets and open file reports.
Each group carries the same core certification of seal, signature and date. Maps, illustrations, reports and bulletins all place the seal near the typeset name, and the last group differs in how often the certification has to appear.
How do large print runs meet the rule?
Through a certification page. Rule 10.5 lets pamphlets and open file reports that are reproduced in large numbers carry one page bearing your signature, date and seal, rather than certifying each sheet of every copy.
The concession is narrow. It covers those two document types in quantity, and the sheet by sheet duty in Rule 10.1 still governs the rest of your work.
Is there any electronic sealing rule for Mississippi RPGs?
Part 1101 does not address one. There is no provision for an electronic or digital geologist seal in those rules, and no technology, certificate authority or means of verification is named anywhere in the part.
Other Mississippi boards do have electronic provisions. 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 201, R. 3.2.4 speaks to architects, Pt. 202, R. 1.11.3 speaks to landscape architects, and Pt. 901, R. 6.2.3 speaks to engineers and surveyors. None of them extends to an RPG; our Mississippi land surveyor seal page covers the surveyor side.
Do the seal rules cover an expired or suspended registration?
No. Rules 1.15 and 10.1 to 10.5 say nothing about expiry, suspension or revocation, about a new number at reinstatement, or about handing the seal back.
Renewal and discipline come from Miss. Code Ann. Title 73 ch. 63 and the Board. Part 1101 was last amended on June 13, 2023, so read the current text before you rely on any provision.
What should you confirm before the first sealed sheet?
That the device matches the Board's adopted artwork and that your title block sets the name line as name, comma, one space, RPG. Stamp a test sheet and check that the impression lands near the name and stays legible.
Then confirm that each sheet template leaves room for your signature and the date, and that review work carries the Rule 10.2 wording.
Frequently asked questions
Does the seal replace the RPG name line?
No. Rules 10.3 and 10.4 call for both: your typeset name followed by RPG, and the seal placed close to it.
Is a firm seal part of the Mississippi RPG rules?
Part 1101 prescribes no firm seal and puts nothing about a firm on the device, because the certification duties belong to the individual registrant. The certificate of authority under Miss. Code Ann. § 73-13-43 covers firms practicing engineering or surveying, not geology.
Can one certification page cover a bound report printed in small numbers?
Rule 10.5 grants the certification page to pamphlets and open file reports reproduced in large numbers. Outside that case, reports and bulletins fall under Rule 10.4 and the sheet by sheet duty in Rule 10.1.
Is the review sentence needed on work I prepared myself?
Rule 10.2 ties that sentence to geologic studies and projects certified by review. Work you prepared, or that was prepared under your direct supervisory control, is certified under Rule 10.1 by seal, signature and date.
Should my documents say registered or licensed?
The rules use registered. Your regulator is the State Board of Registered Professional Geologists, and the designation its rules put after your typeset name is RPG.
With the Board's adopted artwork in hand, order your seal from our Mississippi stamps and seals collection.
