Many states will allow applicants to become Notaries with minor crimes in their backgrounds, as long as those crimes aren't related to dishonesty or fraud or deceit.

However, some states disqualify any applicant who has a felony charge in his or her background, regardless of the type of crime committed. In New York, applicants cannot have a felony conviction or a conviction for a crime involving any moral turpitude. Please see the definition below.

tur·pi·tude.  ['t?rp??t(y)o?od]

NOUN - 1. formal depravity; wickedness:

"acts of moral turpitude" - synonyms: corruption · vice · perversion · deviance · degeneracy · immorality ·
debauchery · dissipation · profligacy · licentiousness · lechery · prurience · obscenity · indecency · wickedness · sin · iniquity · turpitude