South Dakota notary fees this fall: no cap, one free exception

Fee questions tend to cluster in the fall. Year-end closings, estate paperwork and business filings all bring customers through a notary's door, and many of them arrive with a number in mind. For a lot of them it is the wrong number. South Dakota's fee statute, SDCL 18-1-9, used to cap the charge at $10 per instrument, and advice, websites and printed handouts that predate the change still repeat that figure. This is the second year-end since the cap came off, and it is worth being exact about what the law says now.

What changed, and what did not

House Bill 1192 removed the $10 maximum. The Governor signed it on March 12, 2025 and it took effect July 1, 2025, recorded in the statute's source line as SL 2025, ch 91, section 1. What remains is short: a notary public may charge and receive a fee for each instrument notarized, except that no notary may charge a fee for notarizing a request for an absentee ballot. There is no minimum, no maximum and no suggested amount. Earlier editions of the Secretary of State's handbook and FAQ quoted the $10 figure; the July 2025 handbook and the current FAQ repeat the statute's wording without any dollar amount, which is deliberate rather than an oversight. For the full picture, see our notary fees page.

The one notarization that must be free

The 2025 amendment did not touch the absentee-ballot exception. With the November 3, 2026 general election about a month away, a notary may be asked to handle exactly that kind of paperwork, and the statute is unambiguous that no fee may be charged for notarizing a request for an absentee ballot. Read the exception as written. It names a request for an absentee ballot and nothing broader, so it should not be stretched to cover other election-related documents on the assumption that the same rule applies. If a situation is not clearly inside those words, the Secretary of State's office is the place to ask.

The fee attaches to each instrument, not each visit

Because the statute speaks of a fee for each instrument notarized, a year-end signing with several documents involves several chargeable acts. The statute does not distinguish a one-signature acknowledgment from a lengthy document with several notarized signatures, and nothing in it says every customer must be charged the same amount. South Dakota also does not require a notary to post a fee schedule. That freedom cuts both ways: a notary is entitled to set the price, and a customer is entitled to ask for it before the stamp comes out.

Travel fees: the law is silent

Neither SDCL 18-1-9, the Notary Public Handbook nor the Secretary of State's FAQ mentions travel time or mileage. Nothing published authorizes a travel fee, and nothing prohibits a notary and a customer from agreeing to one as a separate, disclosed charge on top of the per-instrument fee. Year-end is when mobile signings pile up, so this matters. If a specific travel arrangement is important to you, do not assume either answer; ask the Secretary of State's office directly before relying on it.

Remote online notarization

The fee statute applies to each instrument notarized without separating in-person acts from remote ones, and South Dakota's RON statutes (SDCL 18-1-11.2 through 18-1-11.8) set out no separate fee rule for an electronic notarial act. Our RON guide covers how those acts work and what they require.

A short practical checklist

• If you are a notary: decide your per-instrument fee and any travel charge before the busy season, and state both up front. The statute does not require this, but it heads off disputes at the table.
• If you are a customer: a fee above $10 is no longer a sign of anything wrong, and because there is no cap, asking for the price in advance is reasonable.
• If you see a $10 figure online: check the date. It reflects the law before July 1, 2025.
• Absentee ballot requests: no fee, as the statute states.

As with everything on this site, this is general information drawn from published sources, not legal advice. Confirm anything that matters with the Secretary of State before you rely on it.