Settlement agents who are commissioned notaries face several hurdles when trying to perform prison signings. Thus, prison notaries are in the best position to perform these signings.

First, the settlement agent cannot show up to the prison and expect to meet with the prisoner. There are stringent rules on when prisoners are allowed to meet with the outsiders.

Second, documents, pens, journals and thumbprints are not allowed to be exchanged between the notary and the prisoner, except under strict supervision.

Third, the prisoner would have had to surrender their identification, so there is no way for the settlement agent to positively identify the signer. Only a prison–employed notary would have the ability to positively identify the prisoner as the principal.

A closing involving a principal who is currently incarcerated is challenging in that the inmate is not going to be released from custody in order to attend the closing. Instead, a prison notary has to be contacted to receive the documents electronically, print them and schedule a time to meet with the inmate.

Every prison has an employee who is a commissioned notary. The notary is an employee of the federal, state or county prison, and can be relied upon to properly identify the signer through the prison issued identification and record system. The notary conducts the signing and returns the documents to the settlement agent, since the prisoner has no means of returning the documents except through regular mail.