Texas Notary Law Changes: What Proposed HB 733 Would Require

Texas notary law changes are being proposed for the 2027 legislative session, and one pre-filed bill has drawn attention from people who do this work every day. House Bill 733 would ask Texas notaries to take on a task that has never been part of the job: deciding whether a signer is associated with a designated foreign terrorist organization.

This post explains what the bill says, what it leaves open, and what it means for anyone who relies on a notary. It is a news explainer, not a view on the bill. It is also not legal advice. The bill is a proposal, and it could change or never become law.

What House Bill 733 would require

According to KLTV, <cite index="19-3">House Bill 733, filed by Rep. Joanne Shofner, R-Nacogdoches, would require Texas notaries to determine whether a person is associated with a designated foreign terrorist organization.</cite> The Texas Legislature's filing record shows the bill was <cite index="20-2">filed in the House on 11/09/2026</cite>. Its official caption describes it as <cite index="20-1">a bill prohibiting notarization by notaries public for foreign terrorist organizations and creating a criminal offense.</cite>

Here are the main points reported so far:

• A state list. <cite index="19-4">The Texas Secretary of State's office would provide a list of the organizations.</cite>
• A criminal penalty. <cite index="19-6">A notary who, with criminal negligence, notarizes for a member of a designated organization would commit a state jail felony.</cite> <cite index="19-7">State jail felonies carry 180 days to two years in state jail and a possible fine of up to $10,000.</cite>
• A sworn form. <cite index="19-8">New and renewing notaries would sign a form swearing not to perform prohibited notarizations.</cite>
• A timeline. <cite index="19-9">If passed and signed into law, the bill would take effect on Sept. 1, 2027.</cite> The secretary of state would have until Dec. 1, 2027, to adopt rules and make the form available.

Why one Tyler notary is raising questions

On Saturday, KLTV spoke with Francine Bowen, a notary in Tyler. She described her role this way: <cite index="2-1">"As a notary, it is my job to verify identity and to verify their signature on the documents necessary."</cite> In her view, <cite index="1-4">determining whether someone is affiliated with a terrorist organization falls outside her usual duties.</cite>

Her concern ties to a gap in the bill's wording. <cite index="1-3">The bill does not specify how notaries must verify a person's association or membership.</cite> A notary can look at a photo ID and compare it to the person in front of them. Membership or affiliation is a different kind of question, and the reporting does not say what evidence a notary would be expected to use.

A Stephen F. Austin State University political science professor offered another perspective. <cite index="21-4">He said the proposal appears intended to limit access to transactions that could help fund terrorist activity</cite>, and <cite index="21-5">that those transactions could involve real estate, financial institutions and other services.</cite> KLTV reported that it had reached out to Rep. Shofner for an interview or statement.

Texas notary law changes: where the bill stands

For now, HB 733 is only a pre-filed bill. KLTV notes that <cite index="1-9">it has been pre-filed and would need to go through the legislative process.</cite> That means committee review, possible amendments and votes before anything could change. Pre-filed bills often look different by the time they reach a final vote, if they get that far.

Several details could shape how the bill works in practice:

• How "criminal negligence" would be applied to a notary's judgment.
• What steps, if any, the Secretary of State's rules would require when a notary checks a signer against the list.
• How the rules would apply to different kinds of notarizations, including remote online ones.

None of these answers is in the public reporting yet. The rulemaking window in the bill suggests that many details would be settled after passage, not in the statute itself.

What stays the same for signers today

Nothing about the bill changes how notarizations work now. Today, a notary's core job is still to confirm who is signing and to witness the signature. Whether a signer is in a Dallas office, at a kitchen table or on a video call, the basics hold:

• Every signer needs a valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID.
• Documents should stay unsigned until the notary is present.
• The signer must be willing and aware of what they are signing.

If you have questions about how a possible law might affect a specific transaction, an attorney is the right person to ask. A notary cannot give legal advice.

How to stay informed

Notary rules differ from state to state, and they change through legislation, so it pays to follow your own state's updates. Texas notaries can watch for the bill's progress on the Legislature's website, and for any guidance from the Secretary of State if the bill advances.

At Uptown Notary, we follow developments like this closely. They affect how our mobile notaries across Dallas–Fort Worth and our team in downtown Dallas serve clients. Signers who prefer a traditional setting can use in-office notarization in downtown Dallas, and those outside Texas can use remote online notarization.

Notaries who want to keep their practice current can also look at state-law notary journals and the notary training course. Good records and solid training matter most when rules shift.

We will update readers if HB 733 moves forward.