A California notary commissioned in Los Angeles County is asked to perform an act in Fresno. The notary:

This item tests territorial jurisdiction, which candidates routinely get wrong because the commission and seal both display a county. A California notary public is commissioned by the state, and the authority to perform notarial acts extends to the entire state. The county that appears on the seal and commission is simply the county where the notary filed the oath of office and bond; it records where the paperwork lives, not where the notary may work. The practical consequence is that a notary may travel freely within California to perform acts, but may not cross the state line and act in another state on the strength of a California commission.

The commission is issued by the Secretary of State and is valid throughout California, so a notary who filed the oath in Los Angeles County may perform a notarial act in Fresno or anywhere else in the state. Nothing about the act needs to be connected to the county named on the seal.

Notary authority is granted by the state, not the county. In California the Secretary of State issues the commission, the notary files the oath and bond with a county clerk, and that county is imprinted on the seal for identification purposes.

The State grants the power; the County only files the paperwork. Your seal names where your file sits, not where your feet may go.

Statewide inside California, powerless outside it. If an option restricts you within the state, it is wrong; if an option lets you act in another state, it is also wrong.

• •Reading the county on the seal as the boundary of the notary's authority
• •Believing a second county must authorize an out-of-county act
• •Extending statewide authority across the state line into another state