Tennessee Rule 1360-07-03-.03 states

1. The records shall be retained in a safe and secure manner, for five years following the date of the notarization.
2. A backup of the electronic records shall also be maintained for five years following the date of the notarization.
3. A notary can elect to store such recordings with a custodian, or a repository and such recordings may be stored separately from the journal if it is cross-referencing the place of storage and how the record is stored.
4. The original records and backup shall be protected from unauthorized use.

Contact information for APD is provided here

Cases are opened with the Administrative Procedures Division (APD) by the state or local government agency for whom APD is hearing the case.  An individual or business who wants to appeal a government agency’s ruling will file an appeal with that agency.  The agency then refers that appeal to APD.  Individuals do not open cases directly with APD.

• For example, if a property owner wants to appeal their county property tax, the owner will file an appeal with the respective county’s board of equalization.  If the property owner wants to appeal further, beyond the county, then the property owner will file an appeal with the State Board of Equalization.  It is the State Board of Equalization that then refers the appeal and opens a case with APD.
• For another example, if someone is denied coverage of a medical service by TennCare and wants to appeal that denial, that individual will appeal to TennCare.  TennCare will then refer the appeal and open a case with APD.
• There are two exceptions to this process:  1) an individual property owner and a municipality disagree as to whether the property has been annexed by the municipality (TCA 8-3-102).  For these cases, the property owner or the municipality may file a complaint against the opposing party with the secretary of state.  2) a public official challenges a fraudulent lien against his or her property (TCA 47-9-513).  For these cases, the office where the lien is being filed forwards the challenge to APD.  

No, the State of Tennessee only offers notaries and remote online notaries.

Generally, APD gets its authority from the Tennessee General Assembly through the laws they adopt, specifically the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act (UAPA) (Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-5-101, et seq.)  In addition, many Tennessee statutes require state agencies to comply with the UAPA in conducting certain types of cases.  For example, the TEAM Act requires that certain state employee disciplinary cases be conducted in accordance with the UAPA (Tenn. Code Ann. §8-30-318) and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security must conduct procedures about property that might be forfeited to the State under the provisions of the UAPA (Tenn. Code Ann. §8-30-318).  APD also contracts with local governments to conduct employee disciplinary proceedings and with colleges and universities to hold hearings required by Title IX. 

If you want to appeal the decision made in your case, then you should follow the instructions given here and as attached to your order.

If you are concerned about the ethics, demeanor, or conduct of APD employees, including APD support staff or ALJs, then please send your complaint in writing to the Director of APD.

A fee can be required not to exceed $25 for each online notarization per Tennessee Rule 1360-07-03-.03.

APD is a division of the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, which is within the Legislative Branch of Tennessee state government. APD employs a central panel of judges who are independent of the Executive Branch and the agencies whose cases are heard before them.  This independence ensures that an extra layer of due process protection is afforded to all parties involved in each case.

Yes, each vendor that you are utilizing their software to remotely notarize documents should be listed in your dashboard under your vendor technologies.  You have the option to add new vendor technologies in your dashboard for free.  The same documents are required to be uploaded.

APD is partially funded through the Secretary of State’s budget as allocated by the Tennessee General Assembly. In addition, APD charges government agencies $200 to open a case and $100 per hour, after the first two hours, for a judge’s time spent on an individual case. Each government agency and type of case may have specific rules that determine if and how that government agency may recoup some of the costs of a case from the other party.

If you are a party in the case, please email apd.filings@tnsos.gov with your request. If you are not a party in the case, then you can submit a public records request.

APD considers cases from most state agencies, various city and county governmental agencies, and state universities resulting in over 430 different types of cases.  On average over 8,100 cases are referred to APD each year.  The majority of these cases involve property tax appeals, TennCare appeals, and appeals from the seizure of an individual’s assets.

In accordance with Tennessee Rule 1360-07-03-.04, an online notary public shall use an electronic seal that substantially conforms to the following design: a circular, square, or rectangular seal with the notary public's name as it appears on the commission printed at the top, the county of election printed at the bottom, the words 'Tennessee Notary Public' printed in the center, and the words "Online Notary Public" printed below.  The electronic seal must also be accompanied by a statement of the date upon which the online notary public's commission expires.

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No, the Tennessee Secretary of State does not recommend nor endorse any third-party vendors.  Whatever platform you choose should provide identity proofing, credential analysis, and storage for your video recordings of notarial acts.  It should also be capable of attaching your electronic seal, electronic signature, and electronic notarial certificate to an electronic document.

For some questions you may have regarding your case, you may be instructed that your question is better directed to the government agency that is the opposing party in your case rather than to APD. You should direct those questions to the opposing attorney who represents the government agency or contact the government agency using the contact information contained in your Notice of Hearing or Notice of Hearing and Charges.

One example may be a question regarding how you are to pay the cost for your case. APD charges each government agency based upon the hours spent on each case. Each government agency has different rules and policies on if they can then in turn charge the petitioner. If you have been billed for your case, you would have been billed by the government agency involved in your case, not by APD. Questions regarding those charges should, therefore, be addressed to the government agency involved in your case.  

In April of 2018, the Tennessee Legislature passed Senate Bill 1758 known as the “Online Notary Public Act”. This Act went in effect as of July 1, 2019. The Act defines “Online Notarization” as “a notarial act performed by means of two-way video and audio conference technology…”. This means that the notary and the principal whose signature is notarized are not in the same place but interact remotely over the internet. All regular notary rules apply to these transactions including the requirement for the notary to confirm the identity and state of mind of the principal, the voluntary nature of the act and the legality of the document. This will require online notaries to have access to significant technological resources via a contract with a third-party online notary vendor. This Act authorizes Tennessee notaries to perform remote online notarizations after the completion of an application and approval from the Tennessee Secretary of State.  The steps which must be taken for a notary to perform online notarizations can be found in the  Online Notary Public Guide.

A Notary is considered a public official and may be removed from office just as any other official. Complaints concerning official misconduct should be directed to local Law Enforcement in the county in which the Notary is elected or in which the alleged misconduct occurred.

With regard to criminal conduct of a notary, Attorney General Opinion No. 07-157 states:

"Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-7-103, the District Attorney General has the duty of prosecuting all violations of state criminal statutes which occur in his or her district. This duty includes prosecutions of criminal acts committed by notaries. A citizen who wishes to file a criminal complaint against a notary public may do so by contacting the District Attorney General of the judicial district in which the alleged criminal conduct occurred and proceeding through the complaint process."

Additionally, as explained in the above opinion of the Attorney General, a notary may be removed from office through the ouster proceedings set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-17-101.

A directory of District Attorneys can be found at Tennessee District Attorneys General Directory.

1. The name of your vendor and a description of the technologies it uses to provide the services listed in the Tennessee Rules [1360-07-03-.02(h), (i), (l ), (m), (n)]
2. An explanation of the method or technology you will use to maintain an electronic notary journal as required by the Rules;[1360-07-03-.03(12)]
3. A copy of your unique electronic seal; [1360-07-03-.03(k)]
4. A copy of your unique electronic notarial certificate or other technology for rendering a notarized electronic document tamper-evident;[1360-07-03-.04(13)]
5. A copy of the instructions or techniques supplied by the vendor that allows the online notary public's electronic notarial certificate to be read and authenticated;[1360-07-03-.04(8)]
6. A copy of the instructions or techniques supplied by the vendor that allow the online notary public to conduct identity proofing and credential analysis. [1360-07-03-.02(m)]

In e-notarization, the notarization uses digital signatures but must occur in the physical presence of the notary, similarly to a traditional/pen and paper notarization.  In remote notarization, the person is not in the physical presence of the notary but is present through audio and visual equipment such as a webcam.

The third-party vendor you have chosen should provide you with the certificate.

The portion of a notarized electronic document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public's electronic signature and official electronic seal, official title, commission expiration date, any required information concerning the date and place of the electronic notarization, and states the facts attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular electronic notarization.

The application fee is $75.