Kentucky leaves the stamp optional and still fixes what it says: your name, your title, your jurisdiction, your commission number and your expiration date. Size, shape and ink color are not specified for paper records, and an embosser is expressly contemplated for tangible ones. Commissions run four years. This page covers the five details, the silences around them and your reporting duties.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against KRS 423.370 and the Kentucky Secretary of State, with qualification taken before the county clerk in your county of commission. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp required | No. A stamping device is not mandatory in Kentucky. | KRS 423.370 |
| Your name | The notary's name. | KRS 423.370 |
| Title | The office you hold. | KRS 423.370 |
| Jurisdiction | The jurisdiction you were commissioned in. | KRS 423.370 |
| Commission number | The number assigned to your commission. | KRS 423.370 |
| Expiration date | The date your commission expires. | KRS 423.370 |
| Size and shape | Not specified for paper. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Ink color | Not specified. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Embosser | Expressly contemplated for tangible records. | KRS 423.370 |
| Commission term | Four years. | The Kentucky Secretary of State |
Kentucky is one row in our notary seal requirements by state table, which sets each jurisdiction's rule side by side.
Does Kentucky make a notary stamp mandatory?
No. A stamping device is not required of a Kentucky notary. What the statute does instead is fix the five details that identify the officer, leaving the means of putting them on the page to you.
So the device is a working tool rather than a legal obligation, which is why most notaries still carry one. Repeating five lines by hand on every certificate invites the kind of small variation a stamp removes. A fuller read of the Kentucky notary stamp requirements covers the statute line by line.
What does KRS 423.370 require the stamp to show?
Five details. They are fixed by statute even though the device itself is optional, which makes the wording the part of a Kentucky order that has to be right.
- The notary's name
- The title of the office
- The jurisdiction
- The commission number
- The expiration date of the commission
Two of the five are tied to a specific term: the commission number and the expiration date. Those are the lines to read twice on a proof. The Kentucky notary public seal guidelines set the same list out in context.
Does Kentucky set a size, shape or ink color?
No to all three. Size and shape are not specified for paper, and no ink color is specified either. The statute controls the content of the impression and leaves its dimensions and its color open.
That freedom has a limit you set yourself. Five details on a small die drive the type size down, and the commission number and expiration date are usually the first lines to blur once a document is copied.
Where does an embosser fit in Kentucky?
An embosser is expressly contemplated for tangible records, so a press is a recognized way of marking paper in Kentucky rather than an oddity to be explained.
The trade off is the familiar one. An embossed mark resists tampering and reads well in the hand, while an inked impression survives a scan. Since neither device is mandatory here, the choice turns on how your documents travel.
How long does a commission run, and what does that mean for the stamp?
Terms run four years. Because the expiration date is one of the five required details, the date printed on your device belongs to the term it was made for and stops being current when that term ends.
Plan the reorder around the commission calendar rather than around wear. A closer look at Kentucky notary seal expiration dates covers how that date is handled.
What do you do if your device is lost or stolen?
Notify the Secretary of State promptly once you find the device is gone. Kentucky frames the duty around the moment you notice, so the clock starts then rather than when the device actually went missing.
Make the notice the first thing you do, and note the date you noticed the loss in your own records. A stamp carrying your commission number in someone else's hands is the risk the duty exists to address.
What do you file when your details change?
Send the changed information to the Secretary of State inside 10 days, together with the $10 fee. Ten days is short, so treat a name or address change as a filing task rather than an administrative afterthought.
If the change touches your name, the device needs to change with it, since the name is one of the five details the statute fixes. File first, then order against the corrected record. Practical notes on Kentucky notary stamp law cover the filings.
Who commissions a Kentucky notary?
The Secretary of State issues the commission, and you qualify before the county clerk in the county you are commissioned in. Two offices are involved, and knowing which does what saves a wasted trip when something needs correcting.
The Secretary of State is where changes and loss reports go. The county clerk is where you qualify. The wider Kentucky notary requirements walk through both steps.
What should you supply when ordering?
Your name, your title, your jurisdiction, your commission number and your expiration date, each taken from your commission paperwork rather than from memory. Those five lines are the entire content of a Kentucky device.
Because nothing else is specified, the remaining decisions are yours: the outline, the size and the format. A list of Kentucky notary supply sets out what else the role calls for.
How do you check the impression before using it?
Press it on plain paper and read all five lines out loud against your commission paperwork. Then photocopy the sheet and read them again, because the copy is how most recipients will see the mark.
Pay particular attention to the digits. A transposed commission number or a wrong year in the expiration date is the sort of error that is invisible at a glance and obvious to anyone checking the record.
Frequently asked questions
If the stamp is optional, can the details be typed instead?
The statute fixes the five details rather than the device, so they have to appear whichever way you put them on the certificate. A stamp is simply the fastest way to produce the same five lines every time.
Does an embosser satisfy the requirement on its own?
An embosser is expressly contemplated for tangible records, and no device is mandatory in Kentucky. What matters is that the five details appear and can be read.
What does jurisdiction mean on the face?
The statute names jurisdiction as one of the five details without expanding on it in the text read here. Take it from your commission paperwork rather than assuming a form.
Is there a fee when my details change?
Yes. File the change with the Secretary of State inside 10 days and include the $10 fee.
Does a renewal require a new device?
The sources read do not state a requirement to buy one. They do require the expiration date on the face, and a four year term means that date changes, so a renewal in practice means a new device.
Does Kentucky set rules for the size of an electronic version?
Size and shape are stated as not specified for paper, and nothing further is addressed in the sources read here. Treat that as a gap rather than as permission.
Take the five lines straight from your commission paperwork, then order a device that keeps them legible on a copy from the Kentucky stamps and seals collection.
