N.Y. Exec. Law § 130

§ 130. Appointment of notaries public. 1. The secretary of state may\nappoint and commission as many notaries public for the state of New York\nas in his or her judgment may be deemed best, whose jurisdiction shall\nbe co-extensive with the boundaries of the state. The appointment of a\nnotary public shall be for a term of four years. An application for an\nappointment as notary public shall be in form and set forth such matters\nas the secretary of state shall prescribe. Every person appointed as\nnotary public must, at the time of his or her appointment, be a resident\nof the state of New York or have an office or place of business in New\nYork state. A notary public who is a resident of the state and who moves\nout of the state but still maintains a place of business or an office in\nNew York state does not vacate his or her office as a notary public. A\nnotary public who is a nonresident and who ceases to have an office or\nplace of business in this state, vacates his or her office as a notary\npublic. A notary public who is a resident of New York state and moves\nout of the state and who does not retain an office or place of business\nin this state shall vacate his or her office as a notary public. A\nnon-resident who accepts the office of notary public in this state\nthereby appoints the secretary of state as the person upon whom process\ncan be served on his or her behalf. Before issuing to any applicant a\ncommission as notary public, unless he or she be an attorney and\ncounsellor at law duly admitted to practice in this state or a court\nclerk of the unified court system who has been appointed to such\nposition after taking a civil service promotional examination in the\ncourt clerk series of titles, the secretary of state shall satisfy\nhimself or herself that the applicant is of good moral character, has\nthe equivalent of a common school education and is familiar with the\nduties and responsibilities of a notary public; provided, however, that\nwhere a notary public applies, before the expiration of his or her term,\nfor reappointment with the county clerk or where a person whose term as\nnotary public shall have expired applies within six months thereafter\nfor reappointment as a notary public with the county clerk, such\nqualifying requirements may be waived by the secretary of state, and\nfurther, where an application for reappointment is filed with the county\nclerk after the expiration of the aforementioned renewal period by a\nperson who failed or was unable to re-apply by reason of his or her\ninduction or enlistment in the armed forces of the United States, such\nqualifying requirements may also be waived by the secretary of state,\nprovided such application for reappointment is made within a period of\none year after the military discharge of the applicant under conditions\nother than dishonorable, or if the applicant has a qualifying condition,\nas defined in section one of the veterans' services law, within a period\nof one year after the applicant has received a discharge other than bad\nconduct or dishonorable from such service, or if the applicant is a\ndischarged LGBT veteran, as defined in section one of the veterans'\nservices law, within a period of one year after the applicant has\nreceived a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from such\nservice. In any case, the appointment or reappointment of any applicant\nis in the discretion of the secretary of state. The secretary of state\nmay suspend or remove from office, for misconduct, any notary public\nappointed by him or her but no such removal shall be made unless the\nperson who is sought to be removed shall have been served with a copy of\nthe charges against him or her and have an opportunity of being heard.\nNo person shall be appointed as a notary public under this article who\nhas been convicted, in this state or any other state or territory, of a\ncrime, unless the secretary makes a finding in conformance with all\napplicable statutory requirements, including those contained in article\ntwenty-three-A of the correction law, that such convictions do not\nconstitute a bar to appointment.\n 2. A person regularly admitted to practice as an attorney and\ncounsellor in the courts of record of this state, whose office for the\npractice of law is within the state, may be appointed a notary public\nand retain his office as such notary public although he resides in or\nremoves to an adjoining state. For the purpose of this and the following\nsections of this article such person shall be deemed a resident of the\ncounty where he maintains such office.\n