To whom must the seal be delivered for defacement or destruction upon resignation, death, expiration of term, removal, or abandonment of office?

• A. Clerk of the circuit court
• B. Attorney General
• C. Governor
• D. Notary's successor

Answer: (B)

The essential idea is that a notary’s seal is an official instrument that must be accounted for and disabled when the commission ends or the office is vacated. In this framework, the authority in charge of ensuring proper disposal and preventing further use of the seal is the state’s chief legal officer. Delivering the seal to the Attorney General allows for proper defacement or destruction under the correct authority, preventing any possible future misuse of a seal tied to official acts. The other options don’t provide that centralized, authorized control over the disposal process: the clerk of the circuit court isn’t the designated custodian for this purpose, the Governor is the appointing authority but not the custodian for seal disposal, and the notary’s successor would not automatically handle the formal destruction of the seal.