South Dakota notary bond: is one still required in 2026?

If you search for a South Dakota notary bond, you may still find pages that quote a $5,000 requirement and explain how to buy one. That requirement no longer exists. A South Dakota notary public does not buy, file or renew a bond, whether applying for the first time or renewing a commission. The rest of this post covers what the law used to say, what the bond did and did not do, and the responsibilities that stayed in place.

The short answer

No bond is required. The Secretary of State's How to Become a Notary page says that effective July 1, 2025, “the surety bond/Personal Surety Form is no longer required to apply and become a South Dakota Notary Public.” The office's June 25, 2025 announcement says the change “applies to all new and renewing notaries on or after July 1, 2025,” and that notaries commissioned before that date “are not affected until their next renewal.” Question 19 of the July 2025 Notary Public Handbook gives the same answer.

The change came from House Bill 1133, passed in the 2025 session and recorded as chapter 90 of the 2025 Session Laws. The current Notary Public Application and Oath, revised May 22, 2026, has no bond section at all. It asks for a seal imprint, your name and address, answers to the required questions and a signed oath, and it is mailed with the $30 filing fee.

What the old bond was

Before the change, SDCL 18-1-2 required every notary, along with the oath of office, to “give a bond to this state, to be approved by the attorney general, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of the office.” A companion section, SDCL 18-1-3, required the notary to file the seal impression “together with his oath and bond” in the Office of the Secretary of State. In practical terms:

• Amount: a penal sum, meaning the bond's face amount, of $5,000.
• Payable to: the State of South Dakota (“a bond to this state”), not to the notary.
• Approved by: the attorney general.
• Filed: with the Secretary of State, as part of the application package. The Secretary of State's page names two forms it took: a surety bond or a Personal Surety Form.
• When: before the notary could begin performing the duties of the office. The statute set no separate bond term of its own. The bond went in with the application, and because new and renewing notaries file the same application, the 2025 change reached renewals as well.

House Bill 1133 struck that language from both sections. Today SDCL 18-1-2 requires only the oath, and SDCL 18-1-3 requires only the seal impression and the oath to be filed. If you read the bill itself, note that its title, “An Act to amend bond requirements,” is broader than notaries: its later sections rewrite bond rules for personal representatives in probate. Only Sections 1 and 2 concern notaries.

What it did and did not protect

The bond was a guarantee about the notary's conduct. Its stated condition was the “faithful discharge of the duties of the office,” it ran to the state, and its face amount was $5,000. It was not written as protection for the notary, and nothing in the old statute described it as covering a notary's own mistakes or legal costs.

Repealing it did not remove a notary's responsibility for the work. The Handbook still warns that “a notary may be held personally responsible for improper, negligent or fraudulent actions,” and that failing to follow the requirements for a proper notarization “may result in revocation of the notary's commission and potential civil and/or criminal penalties.” The criminal provisions of Chapter 18-1 were not touched by the bill:

• Signing as a notary when the parties did not appear, in person or by video under SDCL 18-1-11.1, is a Class 2 misdemeanor (SDCL 18-1-11).
• Acting as a notary after the commission expires, or while otherwise disqualified, is a Class 2 misdemeanor (SDCL 18-1-12).
• Performing a notarial act without first obtaining a commission is a Class 1 misdemeanor (SDCL 18-1-12.1). Penalty ranges and mandatory removal are covered in the four notary misdemeanors.
• Notarizing a document you also signed as a party to the transaction is a Class 1 misdemeanor (SDCL 18-1-12.2).
• A notary convicted of any misdemeanor in the chapter, or of any felony, is removed from office by the Secretary of State (SDCL 18-1-13).

If you already bought a bond

You do not need to send it in. The Secretary of State's page says that if you still choose to purchase a surety bond, “you may keep that paperwork in your own records as it does not need to be filed with our office.” If you were commissioned before July 1, 2025, your current commission is not affected. The change reaches you at your next renewal, when you mail the application, oath, seal imprint and fee with no bond attached.

What about insurance?

Neither Chapter 18-1, the current application nor the July 2025 Handbook requires any kind of insurance for a South Dakota notary. Whether to carry coverage of any kind is a private decision, and this site does not recommend for or against it.

A 2026 application, without a bond

1. Get a seal that meets the state's requirements. Our notary stamp rules post lists what it must show.
2. Complete the Notary Public Application and Oath, with a legible seal imprint and your name exactly as it appears on the seal.
3. Sign the oath.
4. Mail the original with the $30 filing fee to the Secretary of State, 500 E. Capitol Ave., Suite 204, Pierre, SD 57501.
5. Wait for the Notary Commission Certificate. You are authorized to notarize only after you receive it.

The full steps are in our guide to becoming a South Dakota notary. If you are renewing, the renewal timeline works backward from your expiration date. Procedures and fees can change, so confirm against the Secretary of State's current page before you mail anything.