Has anyone had any experience in Prison or Jail House Notary Services? If so, how did you break in (no pun intended). And, is it profitable?
@loricnotary22 This thread is from a bit more than 1 year ago. There are multiple posts within it that identify they’ve successfully performed this type of service.
You may find a much better response by creating Direct Messages [DMs] via the Notary Cafe platform to each of those posters to query them directly for insights.
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Hi there,
I do perform notarizations at jails, prisons, and other correctional facilities. These are definitely very profitable for me because I charge a major premium due to the long travel time, the wait time, the security lines,etc.
The total time depends on the facility that you are visiting, but expect to spend most of your day doing this if you plan on taking an assignment to go there. Make sure you charge a lot too, since it’s a lot of work and hassle to perform.
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Thank you for the link. I did do a search before I put this on the forum. Anyways, thanks!
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I notarized a few times at a jail and decided it was more trouble than I wanted to deal with going forward. I could only take in there the bare minimum, my ID, journal, thumb printer, seal in a clear bag plus the commission certificate from the Secretary of State, which the jail required. Also, I couldn’t take an ink pen in - had to unscrew the pen and only take in the ink refill part. Everything else stayed in my car. There’s lots of waiting for someone to go get the inmate - I waited at least an hour in a phone booth size room. If you show up at their meal time or if the inmate is at a medical appt, then you wait and wait and wait. The 2nd time I was hired for a jail appt, I happened to show up when the place was on lockdown so I was turned away and no one could advise me as to when the lockdown would be lifted so I returned the next day. Luckily, the lockdown was lifted. The desk attendant rifled through the paperwork, deciding which paperwork could or couldn’t be given to the inmate and told me, “NO, this can’t go in there, yes this one can go, this one too but NO not the rest of these papers” So if the person who hires you asks you to take extra non-notarizing paperwork to the inmate, I would advise against it.
The biggest thing was the desk attendant demanded I stamp my seal on a blank piece of paper for their records. That’s a colossal NO-NO in California…notarial seal ONLY goes with ack/jurat wording. I stood my ground on that and referred them to the handbook. Was it profitable for me? I charged a very high fee and required cash up front. However, the excess waiting and lock down which forced me to make a return trip were annoying so I made the decision to just refer jail appts to the notary cafe directory. I would just suggest you require payment upfront either by Zelle or in cash if you’re going to do jail signings. Good luck.
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!!! I forgot to mention this before, but yes, for this kind of assignment, ALWAYS require payment up front for this kind of work. Imagine going through this whole long process and then also have to go through the hassle of chasing the client for your payment afterward.
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In Oregon, they have law libraries at the prisons and jails with notary services, so unfortunately this is a neche I am not able to tap into.
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Wow, that was an interesting read. I did my first county jail signing back in 2002 and after befriending a bail bondsman I was averaging about one per week for over a decade. I’ve even notarized in federal prison at downtown San Diego in a couple of those honor camps an East San Diego county. The trick is to get your name on their NOTARY list and then you just show your stamp when you come in leave your drivers license and they give you a little badge to wear. I have some great stories about meeting with ■■■■■■, drug dealers, and murderers. Everybody’s got a story and it’s fun to look up the signers charges before you go on who’s in jail then actually interact with a prisoner. I go to Las Colinas women’s detention center too, that one’s the easiest to Service. I treat each visit as an adventure and I don’t charge a lot because it’s usually family members they’re paying and they’re pretty traumatized by the whole thing. If you wanna make it a niche you need to make friends with the public defenders. You’re the ones that give you the work and the county pays your fee.
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I feel obligated to chime in here. One thing I’ve learned, is that if you do a notary at a jail or prison, be very careful to make sure you are already considered “An Approved Notary” for their lists. I say that because on one of my profiles I had put that I have done notary’s for inmates. Now I get calls all the time for the local jail, and they use one person to do their notaries. I feel horrible people call me all the time. My name is not on their very short list and once your name is on the web it’s hard to get it off.
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You don’t “do a notary” nor have you “done notary’s”. You notarize (present tense) or you have notarized (past tense). I’ll throw in a bonus: One notary = notary public. More than one notary = notaries public (not notary publics).
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I have done a number of assignments at two of our local correctional facilities. Two were employees and at least three were inmates. In my county you have to get background screened so there is a wait period. In recent months a retired prison employee is doing this work so there are no more offers for work for me. I have never had an assignment from someone in jail. I charge extra for the travel time but the other fees remain the same. I have been booked by Title companies with proven track records so payment was not an issue.
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One word, Avoid them. Takes to much time.
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I’d rather go to prison than do a loan closing.
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Well said. I want to wear a shirt that has this statement printed on it:
"Notary=noun
Notarize=verb"
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