Records Requirement
Journal: “A notary public shall maintain a journal in which the notary public chronicles all notarial acts that the notary public performs” (RCW 42.45.180[1]).
“A notary public shall record each notarial act in a journal at the time of notarization in compliance with RCW 42.45.180 and these rules” (WAC 308-30-190[1]).
“The fact that the notary public’s employer or contractor keeps a record of notarial acts shall not relieve the notary of the duties required by these rules” (WAC 308-30-190[3]).
One Tangible Journal: “A notary public shall maintain only one tangible journal at a time to chronicle notarial acts, whether those notarial acts are performed regarding tangible or electronic records” (RCW 42.45.180[3]).
Exception: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter requiring a notary public to maintain a journal, a notary public who is an attorney licensed to practice law in this state is not required to chronicle a notarial act in a journal if documentation of the notarial act is otherwise maintained by professional practice” (RCW 42.45.180[2]).
Audio-Visual Recording: “An electronic records notary public located in this state may perform a notarial act using communication technology for a remotely located individual if … [t]he electronic records notary public, or a person acting on behalf of the electronic records notary public, creates an audio-visual recording of the performance of the notarial act” (RCW 42.45.280[3][c]).
“To perform remote notarial acts the notary must use technology which … [i]s capable of recording the notarization; and … [h]as reasonable security measures which ensure notarial acts are secure once recorded” (WAC 308-30-300[3] and [4]).
Journal Format
Paper Journal: “The journal must be a permanent, bound register with numbered pages. An electronic records notary public may also maintain an electronic format journal, which can be kept concurrently with the tangible journal. The electronic journal must be in a permanent, tamper-evident electronic format complying with the rules of the director” (RCW 42.45.180[3]).
“A tangible notarial journal shall:
“(a) Be a permanent, bound book with numbered pages; …” (WAC 308-30-200[1]).
Electronic Journal: “If a notary public keeps an electronic journal pursuant to RCW 42.45.180(3), the electronic journal shall:
“(a) Be maintained only in addition to the tangible journal;
“(b) Have the capacity to record the information required for a tangible notarial journal;
“(c) Enable access by a password or other secure means of authentication;
“(d) Be tamper-evident;
“(e) Create a duplicate record of the journal as a backup; and
“(f) Be capable of providing tangible or electronic copies of any entry made in the journal” (WAC 308-30-200[2]).
Contemporaneous Completion
“An entry in a journal must be made contemporaneously with performance of the notarial act” (RCW 42.45.180[4]).
Journal Entries
“An entry in a journal must … contain the following information:
“(a) The date and time of the notarial act;
“(b) A description of the record, if any, and type of notarial act;
“(c) The full name and address of each individual for whom the notarial act is performed; and
“(d) Any additional information as required by the director in rule” (RCW 42.45.180[4]).
“A tangible notarial journal shall: …
“(b) Have the capacity to record for each notarial act:
“(i) The information required by RCW 42.45.180(4);
“(ii) A description of the notary public’s method of identifying the principal; and
“(iii) The principal’s signature, or the signature of an authorized party in compliance with RCW 42.45.070, or a notation in the notary journal that the notarial act was performed via remote notarization” (WAC 308-30-200[1][b]).
Signature Not Required for Remote Notarizations: “Notaries performing remote notarization are not required to collect and maintain the signatures of the signers when those notarizations were performed remotely. Notaries must note in their tangible notary log that a notarization was performed remotely” (WAC 308-30-200[4]).
Additional Information: “Beyond these, you should include whatever information you believe will be helpful in recording the notarial act, such as more details about the method of identification or the signing party’s fingerprint” (NPG)
Journal Shortcuts
“If a notary public performs notarial acts involving different statements or documents for the same individual on the same date, the notary public may record a single entry in the journal for all of the statements or documents. The entry shall include the number of statements or documents notarized and shall otherwise conform to RCW 42.45.180 and these rules” (WAC 308-30-190[2]).
Property of Notary
“A notary public’s journal is the exclusive property of the notary public.…” (WAC 308-30-200[3]).
Security of Journal, Recording
“The journal shall be kept in a locked and secured area, under the direct and exclusive control of the notary public. Failure to secure the journal may be cause for the director to take administrative action against the commission held by the notary public” (RCW 42.45.180[5]).
Lost or Stolen Journal
“If a notary public’s journal is lost or stolen, the notary public promptly shall notify the department on discovering that the journal is lost or stolen” (RCW 42.45.180[5]).
Retention of Journal
Requirement: “The notary public shall retain the journal for ten years after the performance of the last notarial act chronicled in the journal. The journal is to be destroyed as required by the director in rule upon completion of the ten-year period” (RCW 42.45.180[1]).
“A notary public’s journal … shall not be surrendered to an employer upon demand or termination, whether the employer paid for the journal or the notary’s bond or application fees” (WAC 308-30-200[3]).
Retention of Recordings
Requirement: “An electronic records notary public, a guardian, conservator, or agent of an electronic records notary public, or a personal representative of a deceased electronic records notary public shall retain the audio-visual recording created under subsection (3)(c) of [RCW 42.45.280] or cause the recording to be retained by a repository designated by or on behalf of the person required to retain the recording. Unless a different period is required by rule adopted under subsection (8)(d) of [RCW 42.45.280], the recording must be retained for a period of at least ten years after the recording is made” (RCW 42.45.280[6]).
“A notary public must retain any audio-visual recording created under RCW 42.45.280 (3)(c) in a computer or other electronic storage device that protects the recording against unauthorized access by password or other secure means of authentication. The recording must be created in an industry-standard audio-visual file format and must not include images of any electronic record that was the subject of the remote notarial act” (WAC 308-30-330[1]).
“The fact that the notary public’s employer, contractor, or repository keeps or stores any audio-visual recordings shall not relieve the notary of the duties required by these rules” (WAC 308-30-330[4]).
“The personal representative or guardian of a notary public shall follow RCW 42.45.280(6) related to the disposition of the notary public’s audio-visual recordings upon the death or adjudication of incompetency of the notary public” (WAC 308-30-330[5]).
Backup of Recording: “A notary public must take reasonable steps to ensure that a backup of the audio-visual recording exists and is secure from unauthorized use” (WAC 308-30-330[3]).
Access Instructions: “The notary public, or the notary’s personal representative or guardian, shall provide access instructions to the department for any audio-visual recordings maintained or stored by the notary, upon commission resignation, revocation, or expiration without renewal, or upon the death of adjudication of incompetency of the notary” (WAC 308-30-330[6]).
Repositories: “A notary public, or the notary’s personal representative or guardian, may by written contract engage a third party to act as a repository to provide the storage required by this section. A third party under contract under this section shall be deemed a repository under RCW 42.45.280(6)” (WAC 308-30-330[7]).
“Any contract under subsection (7) of [WAC 308-30-330] must:
”(a) Enable the notary public, or the notary’s personal representative or guardian, to comply with the retention requirements of this section even if the contract is terminated; or
”(b) Provide that the information will be transferred to the notary public, or to the notary’s personal representative or guardian, if the contract is terminated” (WAC 308-30-330[8]).
Disposition of Journal
Termination of Commission: “On resignation from, or the revocation or suspension of, a notary public’s commission, the notary public shall retain the notary public’s journal in accordance with subsection (1) of [RCW 42.45.180] and inform the department where the journal is located” (RCW 42.45.180[6]).
“The notary public, or the notary’s personal representative, shall provide access instructions to the department for any electronic journal maintained or stored by the notary, upon commission resignation, revocation, or expiration without renewal, or upon the death or adjudicated incompetence of the notary” (WAC 308-30-210[5]).
Death or Incompetency of Notary: “The personal representative or guardian of a notary public shall follow RCW 42.45.180(6) related to the disposition of the notary public’s journals upon the death or adjudication of incompetency of the notary public” (WAC 308-30-210[3]).
Destruction of Tangible Journal: “Ten years after the performance of the last notarial act chronicled in a tangible journal, the journal is to be destroyed by shredding or other destruction that leaves any entry in the journal illegible” (WAC 308-30-210[1]).
Destruction of Electronic Journal: “Ten years after the performance of the last notarial act chronicled in an electronic journal, the journal is to be destroyed by deleting any remaining records pertaining to the electronic journal and deleting any remaining tamper-evident technology in the notary’s possession” (WAC 308-30-210[2]).
“Nothing in this section shall require a notary to dispose of their notarial journal or journals if doing so would be in conflict with the law of another jurisdiction that requires a notary to keep their journal for a longer period of time” (WAC 308-30-210[4]).
State Employee Journal
Is a state employee’s notarial journal public record or private property? — While generally a notary’s journal is considered private property, the journal entries that a notary public creates during the course of work as a state or local government employee in Washington are likely public records, due to the nature of government employee’s work and Washington public disclosure laws. The Department recognizes that this may create difficulties for state or local government employees who perform notarizations both while working and outside of work. A notary may be able to argue that specific journal entries are not public record, because they were created outside of the scope of their employment. In order to prove this, though, the notary is responsible for demonstrating which entries are work-related and which are not. To help prove which entries are public record, the notary public can segregate their state-work notarizations and after-hours notarizations into different sections of the journal, such as recording all of the after-hours notarizations in the back of the journal. Color coding journal entries may be another way to distinguish which entries are public record. The Department advises any notary who works for the state or a local government agency in Washington to consult with their agency’s public records advisor on these issues” (NPG).