This page is a notary scorecard. It is not a mailbox directory. Form 1583 is the Postal Service form you sign so a mailbox store can receive your mail. It appears here because mailbox signup is a common reason an Alabama owner needs a notary this week. The form is the use-case. The mailbox store is someone else’s product.
Legal
This page is not legal advice. An in-state commission is a notary license from Alabama. Do not paste a California “cannot RON” rule onto Alabama. Alabama has a different product. Ala. Code § 36-20-73.1, added by Act 2021-319 / SB 275 and amended by Act 2023-548, lets an Alabama notary take a remote acknowledgment of a printed document: live two-way video, the notary stays in Alabama, the session is recorded and kept seven years, and documents used on the call are provided to the notary for authentication and original (wet-ink) signature. That is not a same-session electronic RON checkout. A bank, a commercial mailbox (CMRA), or the Postal Service still decides whether this packet may be remote.
Not legal advice.
The Alabama grade that is not a company letter
We grade the state rule first. Remote online notarization (RON) is a video session with a notary. In Texas or Florida that phrase means a consumer checkout and the document is notarized electronically. Alabama’s live in-state video path is remote ink-signature notarization. A company cannot turn an Alabama notarization into a Proof-style e-seal. It also cannot erase the remote ink-signature law.
Alabama (the state rule)
State rule · September 2026- In-state electronic RON
- F
- In-state remote ink-signature
- C
- Signer RON access
- B
- Walk-in / mobile backup
- C
Primary sources: Alabama Secretary of State, Notaries Public; Act 2023-548; Ala. Code § 36-20-73.1. Country context: NASS and NNA. Secondary vendor map: Proof, July 8, 2026, not the country authority.
Remote ink-signature notarization is live. An e-seal checkout is not.
Remote ink-signature notarization is live in Alabama. A $25 checkout still leaves the printed document to move.
- Remote ink-signature notarization is two-way audio-video for a person outside the room. The notary is physically in Alabama, and both sides communicate at the same time by sight and sound. § 36-20-73.1(d)(2) keeps the recording seven years. The official time is when the notary watched the signature, including on video. § 36-20-73.1(g) requires the documents for authentication and original signature, wet ink on the printed document.
- Electronic remote online notarization is a tamper-evident electronic seal on an electronic file in the same session. That is the Proof or NotaryLive product. § 36-20-73.1(c) still requires that original signature unless another law says otherwise. NNA’s overview groups Alabama with Connecticut for printed, ink-signed documents only.
Alabama Code §§ 36-20-70 to 36-20-75 govern notaries. Probate judges commission them for four years, and the Secretary of State keeps the list. NNA’s how-to, updated April 21, 2022, requires a regular commission and two-way video, with no extra remote class or second remote bond. Digital certificates are not required, because the act is wet ink. From September 1, 2023, new and renewal applicants train with the Alabama Probate Judges Association and the Alabama Law Institute. That training is not a provider registry.
§ 36-20-73.1(a) keeps an acknowledged signature in Alabama and in the notary’s physical presence, after personal knowledge or a government photo ID, except as the section otherwise provides. Video is that exception. NNA’s 2022 how-to limits the remote path to acknowledgments. The statute does not describe a remote jurat.
§ 36-20-74, as amended by Act 2023-548, allows a reasonable fee of not more than ten dollars for each act. A state, county, or city employee may not charge for an act done as public service unless another law says so. NNA’s 2026 fee table shows $10 and limits that remote line to printed, ink-signed documents. Alabama does not publish a $25 remote checkout. About $25 a session is a company price from pages retrieved August 2026.
§ 36-20-73.1(e) wants personal knowledge, or two valid government IDs, one with the face and signature, plus a check of public or private data sources. NNA’s 2021 note says that process is not spelled out. If the notary is not satisfied, a mobile notary or a walk-in can finish.
§ 36-20-73.1(f) keeps the date and time, a document description, an Alabama attestation, the identity method, and clear images of any government ID and of the signing. Seven years is the keep-rule, not a ten-year e-seal clock. § 36-20-73.1(i) bars absentee ballot applications, absentee ballot affidavits, and any voting purpose. Act 2021-319 had that line, and Act 2023-548 kept it.
These pages do not show a Connecticut-style list removing wills, powers of attorney, or real estate closings. Proof’s July 8, 2026 vendor map, labeled secondary, says Alabama signers can use out-of-state RON for most document types and lists Alabama among five states that do not authorize their notaries for electronic RON.
Statute notes
The Secretary of State’s Notaries Public page is blunt about who runs the desk. Alabama Code §§ 36-20-70 to 36-20-75 govern notaries. Probate judges appoint and commission them for four years. The Secretary of State keeps the public list. The same page points to Act 2023-548 as the recent rewrite. Those sentences do not sell a webcam e-seal card.
§ 36-20-73.1 is the statute that runs the in-state video job. Mixing it into one “Alabama RON” checkout is how a Birmingham owner pays $25 and still has to move the printed document.
- Remote ink-signature notarization is a notarial act using two-way audio-video communication for a person who is not in the room. The notary and the remotely located signatory communicate at the same time by sight and sound. The notary is physically in Alabama. The session is recorded and kept seven years. § 36-20-73.1(d)(2). The official date and time of the act are the date and time the notary watched the signature, including on video. Documents used during that call shall be provided to the notary for authentication and original signature. § 36-20-73.1(g). Original signature, in that section, is wet ink on the printed document. NNA’s 2021 law-update: Alabama requires the remote act on a printed original with original wet-ink signatures.
- Electronic remote online notarization is a tamper-evident electronic seal on an electronic file, finished in the same session. That is the Proof or NotaryLive consumer product. § 36-20-73.1(c): unless another law says otherwise, the notary’s powers require that original signature. NNA’s overview: Alabama and Connecticut have remote laws for printed, ink-signed documents only. Do not tell an Alabama-commissioned notary to finish a same-session Proof checkout.
Act 2023-548 added a default that people mash into “Alabama banned video.” § 36-20-73.1(a): except as that section otherwise provides, a signature the notary acknowledges shall be executed in Alabama and in the physical presence of the notary, after personal knowledge or a government photo ID. The rest of the section is the otherwise. Video is the exception, not the wipe-out.
The ID check is not a courtesy box. For a remote signer, § 36-20-73.1(e) wants personal knowledge, or two valid government IDs, one with the face and signature, plus a process that checks public or private data sources. NNA’s 2021 note: that data-source process is not spelled out. If the notary is not satisfied, the notary does not have to finish. That is when a mobile notary or a walk-in becomes the product that can finish.
The recording is part of the act. § 36-20-73.1(f): keep the date and time, a description of the documents, an attestation that the notary is in Alabama, a description of how identity was checked, a clear image of any government ID if used, and a clear image of the signing the notary watched. The keep-rule is seven years. That is not the ten-year clock other live-RON states print for an e-seal file.
NNA’s Alabama how-to, last updated April 21, 2022, is a process note, not the statute. It says hold a regular Alabama commission, pick two-way video gear, and that no extra remote class or second remote bond is required for the video job. Digital certificates are not required because the notarization is still wet ink. That page predates Act 2023-548. The Secretary of State’s live page: beginning September 1, 2023, new and renewal applicants complete a pre-commission training program from the Alabama Probate Judges Association and the Alabama Law Institute. That is commission training. It is not a Proof provider registry. We did not retrieve a live e-RON signup on that page.
NNA’s 2022 how-to also says the remote path is for acknowledgments, and that other notarial acts stay in the room. The statute is written as appearance before an acknowledging notary. The statute we read does not describe a remote jurat.
§ 36-20-74, as amended by Act 2023-548: a reasonable fee, not more than ten dollars, for each notarial act. A state, county, or city employee may not charge for an act done as part of public service, unless another law says so. NNA’s 2026 fee table reprints $10 and limits that remote line to printed, ink-signed documents only. We use the statute. Alabama does not publish a $25 remote ink-signature checkout. Company starting prices we cite on the directory, about $25 a session, are still the official pages retrieved August 2026. Those are company stickers, not an Alabama fee schedule.
The printed remote ban is about voting, not a California wipe-out
§ 36-20-73.1(i) is the hard stop we can quote. Remote notarization may not be used to notarize an absentee ballot application or an absentee ballot affidavit, or for any purpose related to voting. That line was already in Act 2021-319. Act 2023-548 kept it. A remote acknowledgment on those documents is the wrong product. It is not legal advice. Localize the document before you buy a video session.
We did not read a Connecticut-style list that keeps wills, powers of attorney, or real estate closings off Alabama remote acknowledgment. The receiving desk still decides. Proof’s July 8, 2026 vendor map, labeled secondary, says signers in Alabama can use out-of-state RON for most document types. That map also lists Alabama among five states without authorizing their notaries for electronic RON. We keep both. We do not flatten them into “Alabama has no remote law.”
What actually needs a notary on an Alabama LLC / bank stack
An Alabama LLC is formed by filing a Certificate of Formation with the Secretary of State. Ala. Code § 10A-5A-2.04: the initial certificate must be signed by at least one organizer. The live SOS LLC page we retrieved: reserve the name, file the original and one copy, pay $200. The Certificate of Formation form we retrieved asks for a signature as required by § 10A-5A-2.04. We did not read a notarization requirement on that statute or those form instructions. People still show up asking for a notary because a bank, a processor, a landlord, or a mailbox asked for a sworn statement on a different printed document that sits next to the LLC.
| Document | Typical notary question | Video vs an ink signature |
|---|---|---|
| AL LLC Certificate of Formation (§ 10A-5A-2.01 / § 10A-5A-2.04) | Usually none for the Secretary of State filing itself. Live statute: organizer signature. Live SOS LLC page and Certificate of Formation form: no notarization line we read. Confirm the live form. | Do not buy a video session because a blog said “LLCs need a notary.” An Alabama remote ink-signature session would still be wet ink plus delivery, not an e-seal checkout. |
| Bank signup documents (resolutions, signature cards, sworn statements) | The bank’s current checklist. Some desks accept an out-of-state video e-RON. Some want a printed document signed in ink and an Alabama notarization. | Ask the desk before you pay $25. An Alabama-commissioned notary cannot finish a same-session e-RON product. Remote ink-signature notarization is video, then the original goes to the notary for the wet-ink notarization. If they printed “in person” or “wet ink today,” that is a mobile notary or a walk-in. The bank sets its own notary rule. |
| PS Form 1583 (mailbox signup) | Yes, a notary public licensed in a U.S. state, territory, possession, or DC, or the mailbox store employee in person. June 2024 form. | The form’s own note allows a live video call. An Alabama signer can use an out-of-state video e-RON if the store accepts that notarization. An Alabama-commissioned notary cannot finish that as a same-session e-seal. Remote ink-signature delivery is a different, slower product. Using a random picture pasted on the PDF is a common reject. See the 1583 page. |
| Power of attorney, will, or real-estate closing | § 36-20-73.1 does not print a Connecticut-style ban list for those documents. The receiving desk, the title company, or the estate statute in front of you is the authority we can quote today. | Alabama does not publish a statewide video will or a statewide video closing. If the desk wants ink in the room, that is a mobile notary or a walk-in. Do not buy an out-of-state e-will to argue with an Alabama desk we have not read. |
| Absentee ballot application, absentee ballot affidavit, or any voting document | Remote notarization is banned. § 36-20-73.1(i). | Stay in the room. Do not buy a video session to argue with the statute. |
We do not publish a bank-by-bank or county-by-county “accepts video” list we have not read on that desk’s page this month. If you need the operating address so a bank will open the account, that is a different product. It is not this site’s directory.
Open all night versus booked, in this state
If you need a same-session electronic seal tonight, that is an out-of-state video notary, and only if the receiving desk will take that notarization. An Alabama-commissioned notary cannot close that session. Company availability letters live on the directory, once.
If you need an Alabama notarization of a printed document, you are shopping remote ink-signature notarization plus delivery, store hours, or a booked house call. Remote ink-signature notarization is the C on the in-state video path showing up as a mailbox. It is not a failure of the 2021 statute. It is the live rule. Voting documents skip that mailbox and stay in the room.
The ID check on an out-of-state video call is not a courtesy. Companies print an ID scan and a quiz from your credit file. Signers with a thin U.S. credit file, a new tax ID, or a foreign passport fail that quiz more often than ads admit. That is when a mobile notary or a walk-in stops being “old fashioned” and becomes the product that can finish.
The ten dollars in § 36-20-74 is the Alabama notary-act cap we can quote. It is not a promise that a video company’s checkout stops at $10, and it is not a UPS price. The consumer starting prices we cite on company cards, about $25 a session, are still the official pages retrieved August 2026. Counters set their own prices at or below the statute cap.
Company letters live on the directory
Availability, identity check, and session-record letters for Proof/Notarize, NotaryLive, OneNotary, BlueNotary, mobile, and walk-in are on the directory, once. This page keeps the Alabama rule and the document table. Official starting prices we cite: NotaryLive about $25 per session; Proof/Notarize about $25 for the first notarization and $15 for each extra notarization; OneNotary online about $25 and mobile from about $80. BlueNotary does not publish a session price. Independent Alabama mobiles are not that OneNotary sticker. Counters set their own prices.
Form 1583 as an Alabama use-case, without becoming a mailbox review
USPS will not let a commercial mailbox (CMRA) hand you mail until PS Form 1583 (June 2024) is complete. Form 1583 is the Postal Service form you sign so that store can receive your mail. You sign in person with the store (or an authorized employee) or with a notary public. The form’s note allows a live video call. An Alabama signer can use an out-of-state remote notary if the store accepts that notarization. An Alabama-commissioned notary cannot finish that video session as a same-session e-seal. Remote ink-signature delivery is a different Alabama product. That is closer to Connecticut wet-ink video than to Florida or Ohio, and it is not a California “no remote law” story. Other states have their own rules. See Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, or Wisconsin if that is your state.
What we will not do here: grade mailbox brands, pick a Birmingham, Montgomery, or Huntsville storefront, or explain store flags. Those are mailbox questions. The notary question is: did the session match the form (U.S.-licensed notary, two IDs, home address matching the address ID), and will the store accept that session? Details live on Form 1583 notarization.
A sequence that usually wastes less money
- Read the receiving desk’s current instruction. If they printed “in person,” “wet ink today,” or “Alabama notary in the room,” do not buy a video session to argue with them. If the document is an absentee ballot or any voting record, § 36-20-73.1(i) already closed the remote path.
- If they accept a remote electronic act on an ordinary document, you may use a notary licensed in another video-notary state. You may not use an Alabama-commissioned notary on a same-session e-seal checkout. If they will take an Alabama remote ink-signature notarization, budget the delivery loop. The Secretary of State and the county probate judge are the authority for the in-state commission. NASS and NNA are the country sources. The company’s live notary pool is the day-of fact.
- Budget the extras from the official page, extra notarization, extra signer, witness, before you upload a six-signature packet at the $25 sticker. The ten dollars in § 36-20-74 is the Alabama notary-act cap, not that checkout.
- If the identity check fails, stop treating “try again after midnight” as a plan. Switch to a mobile notary or a walk-in. NotaryLive’s FAQ describes a Personal Verifier path. That is their product, not a universal escape hatch.
- Keep the session confirmation. The value of an out-of-state remote session in a later dispute is the recording that notary’s state already requires. The value of a walk-in is the ink the desk already said it wanted. The value of Alabama remote ink-signature notarization is the original with the wet-ink notarization, plus the seven-year recording § 36-20-73.1 already requires. Do not count on an Alabama e-RON file. The statute does not print one.
Sources
- Alabama Secretary of State, Notaries Public: Ala. Code §§ 36-20-70 to 36-20-75; probate judges appoint and commission notaries for four years; SOS keeps the public list; points to Act 2023-548 as the recent rewrite; beginning September 1, 2023, new and renewal applicants complete pre-commission training from the Alabama Probate Judges Association and the Alabama Law Institute; § 36-20-75 covers warnings, restriction, suspension, and criminal penalties.
- Alabama Secretary of State, Act 2023-548 (SB 322): amends §§ 36-20-70, 36-20-71, 36-20-72, 36-20-73.1, 36-20-74, and 36-20-75. Official enrolled text: SB322-enr.pdf.
- Act 2021-319 / SB 275 (enrolled): added § 36-20-73.1; original signature is wet ink; remote appearance by two-way audio-video; notary in Alabama; seven-year recording; documents used on the call provided to the notary for authentication and original signature; absentee-ballot remote ban; effective July 1, 2021. NNA law-update: signed April 29, 2021; Chapter Act 2021-319.
- Ala. Code § 36-20-73.1 (compiler also at Justia, 2025 Code): physical-presence default after Act 2023-548; remote appearance by live two-way audio-video; notary physically in Alabama; recording kept seven years; identity by personal knowledge or two government IDs plus a data-source check; recording contents; date and time are the video date; documents used on the call provided for authentication and original signature; remote ban for absentee ballot applications, absentee ballot affidavits, and any voting purpose. We retrieved the current wording from the enrolled Act 2023-548 text hosted by the Secretary of State and the Legislature. The live Justia page returned a bot check from this environment.
- Ala. Code § 36-20-74: reasonable fee not to exceed ten dollars ($10) for each notarial act; Act 2023-548. The enrolled SB 322 text we retrieved prints the same cap.
- NNA, AL Senate Bill 275: a printed original and wet-ink signatures; notary in Alabama; seven-year recording; two government IDs plus a data-source check; voting documents off remote. Secondary process note. The enrolled act is primary.
- NNA, AL Senate Bill 322: Act 2023-548 amendments, including the $10 fee and the physical-presence default. Secondary. Effective date on the SOS page: September 1, 2023.
- NNA, How to Become a Remote Notary in Alabama (updated April 21, 2022): regular commission; two-way video; wet-ink notarization, no digital certificate; no extra remote class or second remote bond on that page; acknowledgments only. That page predates Act 2023-548. The Secretary of State is primary for the 2023 training and fee rewrite.
- Alabama Secretary of State, LLCs: Certificate of Formation; name reservation; original and one copy; $200. See also Domestic LLC Certificate of Formation form and § 10A-5A-2.04: organizer signature. We did not read a notarization requirement.
- NNA, What is a Remote Online Notary?: Alabama and Connecticut have enacted remote notarization laws for printed, ink-signed documents only.
- NASS, Remote Electronic Notarization: country-level enacted-law count. A remote ink-signature law is not the same as that state’s own notaries running an e-seal checkout.
- Proof RON map (July 8, 2026), labeled secondary vendor map. Proof lists Alabama among five states without authorizing their notaries for RON, and says Alabama signers can use out-of-state RON for most document types. Proof is also a listed vendor on this site.
- Notarize consumer pricing: $25 / $15 / $15 / $10.
- NotaryLive pricing: $25/session; extras; 10-year storage.
- OneNotary individuals pricing: $25 online; mobile from $80.
- PS Form 1583, June 2024.