Oregon Notary Stamps – Yes! Required

According to Or. Rev. Stat. § 194.031, notaries should keep an official seal. It must be in the form of an inked stamp. Embossers can be used in tandem to the stamp, but will not be a sufficient substitute.

While having your stamp be a certain color is unrequired, the image it produces must be reproducible under photographic methods for the purpose of creating copies and scans. The recommendation is for black or another dark ink.

And while there are no direct guidelines defined by Oregon’s statute in regard to the stamps’ shape, a rectangle is the logical choice to contain its required information.

Your official Oregon notary public’s inked stamp will include an image of the state seal on the left-hand side, then the following words to its right descending from top down: (1) “Official Stamp”; (2) The printed name of the notary public; (3) “Notary Public — Oregon”; (4) “Commission No. [+Commission Number]”; and (5) “My Commission Expires [+Commission Expiration Date]”. Your expiration date should be expressed in terms of the spelled-out month, two-digit date, and complete year (Ex. January 24, 2028).

Separate requirements govern electronic notarizations in Oregon. What you see here applies to paper documents transmitted through electronic networks, not electronically performed notarizations. Check an appropriate supplies vendor for solutions.