The most important job of a notary public is to identify the signer. Businesses and organizations rely on notaries to help ensure the integrity of important documents by verifying the identity of document signers.
Here are the identity documents that are acceptable when conducting a notarization.
* Note: All I.D. documents must be current or if it they expired, they must be issued in the past 5 years.
FIRST GROUP OF I.D. DOCUMENTS

• California Drivers License or I.D card Issued by California DMV
• United States Passport
• California State Prisons inmate identification card
  Only acceptable if the inmate is in custody at the time of the notarization.
• Inmate identification card issued by a local sheriffs department for a local jail inmate
  Only acceptable if the inmate is in custody at the time of the notarization.

SECOND GROUP OF I.D. DOCUMENTS
The second group of I.D. documents can only be accepted if they contain the following information:
Photo of signer
I.D. number
Physical description of signer
Signature of signer

• Drivers license issued by any U.S. state
• Drivers license issued by Mexico or Canada
• I.D. card issued by any U.S. State
• Foreign passport or Consulate ID card issued by the country of origin
• Tribal I.D. Card issued by a federally recognized tribal government
• Military I.D. card
• Employee I.D. card issued to employees of the State of California or any city or county in California

CREDIBLE WITNESSES
Think of a credible witness as a talking I.D. card. If a signer does not have acceptable I.D. as described above, credible witnesses can vouch for the identity of a signer at the notarization.
The signer can bring ONE CREDIBLE WITNESS to vouch for their identity provided the credible witness personally knows both the signer and the notary public.
Or
The signer can bring TWO CREDIBLE WITNESSES to vouch for their identity provided they both personally know the signer, and they do not have to personally know the notary public.

**The notary public must always check the I.D. of credible witnesses, even if the notary public knows the credible witness, or its a $10,000 fine.