South Dakota Notary Fees
Acknowledgment: No statutory maximum found
As of the 2025 legislative session, South Dakota no longer has a statutory maximum notary fee: HB 1192 removed the former $10 per-instrument cap, and the July 2025 SOS handbook states a notary may charge a fee for each instrument notarized (except absentee ballots).
Source: South Dakota Secretary of State / South Dakota Legislature (Legislative Research Council) · SDCL ch. 18-1 (notary fee provision, as amended by 2025 HB 1192)
Maximum notary fees in South Dakota
What the official source allows a notary to charge for each notarial act. Charging less, or nothing, is allowed.
| Notarial act | Maximum fee | How it’s counted |
|---|---|---|
| Any Notarial Act | No statutory maximum found | no statutory maximum foundApplies to any instrument notarized (fee is per instrument). Former $10 per-instrument maximum removed by 2025 HB 1192. No fee may be charged for notarizing an absentee ballot. |
How South Dakota counts notary fees
No statutory maximum found
The official source recorded for South Dakota does not set a numeric maximum for any notarial act. Read the rule notes: a state without a number may still require that fees be reasonable, disclosed or agreed in advance.
Price a South Dakota appointment
Notarial acts start at the verified South Dakota maximum and are checked against it. Travel and add-ons use example rates you can change.
South Dakota quote calculator
1Job
Act fees default to the verified maximum
2Notarial acts
$10.00no statutory maximum found
Defaults to the verified South Dakota maximum. Count units follow the state rule (per act, signature or signer).
3Travel
$40.00Used for the vehicle-cost estimate
Flat $40.00 per appointment.
4Printing & add-ons
$0.005Time & costs
Round trip
Fuel, wear, insurance share
Courier, supplies
Uses the miles you drive and your print cost whether or not you bill for them. An operational estimate, not accounting profit.
Suggested total
$50
General Notary Work · South Dakota
- Notarial acts
- $10.00
- Travel & service fees
- $40.00
Job economics (estimate)
- Est. direct costs
- $0.00
- Est. net
- $50.00
- Effective rate
- $150.00/hr
20 min total time. Costs: mileage $0.00, printing $0.00, other $0.00. An operational estimate, not accounting profit; it leaves out taxes, insurance and overhead.
Breakdown
Notarial acts
1 × acknowledgment
$10.00
Travel
Flat
$40.00
Total
$50.00
Notarial acts vs. service fees
No statutory maximum found
No statutory maximum found
- No statutory maximum found for this act.
Travel, printing and add-ons are not part of this check. Some states restrict these charges, and listing a fee separately does not by itself make it permitted.
Travel fees in South Dakota
No travel-fee text was captured from the South Dakota official source in this data version. That is not the same as saying travel fees are unrestricted in South Dakota; confirm with the commissioning authority, and agree the fee with the client before you drive.
Travel is a separate charge from the notarial act, so the maximums above do not cover it. Work out a travel charge with the notary travel fee calculator.
Quoted from the official source
A notary public may charge and receive a fee for each instrument notarized, except that no notary public may charge for notarizing an absentee ballot. ... HB 1192 removes the $10 maximum fee that a notary public may charge for notarizing an instrument.
Caveats and research notes
The '$10 maximum fee removed' sentence is from the SD Legislative Research Council 2025 Title Summaries (https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/285313.pdf); the per-instrument/absentee-ballot sentence is from the SOS July 2025 handbook. The exact SDCL section number amended by HB 1192 could not be confirmed from search results (search results suggested 18-1-11.1; statute pages at https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/18-1 did not render in results). Effective date not stated in results; SD 2025 session laws generally took effect July 1, 2025 but this was not confirmed. The prior July 2021 handbook (https://sdsos.gov/general-services/notary-public/docs/NotaryHandbook_20210701.pdf) described the old $10 cap.