Notary journal requirements by state
A remote act is only as defensible as the journal line behind it. Here is what 12 states ask that line to hold, whether the journal must be electronic, how long you keep it and who else may hold it, each read from the state's own statute or rule and linked to it. The recording and seal rules sit beside it under journals, records and e-seals.
Rules last read
Fig. 1The states at a glance
Each row is the state's journal rule for a remote act as the statute or rule reads today: whether it requires one, how many columns an entry needs (as the journal template splits them), and how long it is kept.
| State | Journal | Columns | Kept for | Cite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CO Colorado | electronic journal | 8 | 10 years | C.R.S. § 24-21-519(2)(b); 8 CCR 1505-11, Rule 5.2.4 |
| KS Kansas | Required | 5 | 10 years | K.S.A. 53-5a20(a)-(b) |
| LA Louisiana | Check your state's current rule | — | Check your state's current rule | — |
| ME Maine | Required, for remote and electronic acts | 5 | 10 years | 4 M.R.S. § 1920(1)-(2) |
| MD Maryland | Required | 6 | 10 years | Md. Code, State Gov't § 18-219(a)-(b) |
| MO Missouri | electronic + bound journal | 9 | 10 years | RSMo §§ 486.1180, 486.1190 |
| NE Nebraska | electronic record of each act | 7 | 10 years | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 64-409 |
| PA Pennsylvania | Required | 5 | to the county Recorder of Deeds within 30 days | 4 Pa. Code § 167.34; 57 Pa.C.S. § 319 |
| FL Florida | Required (electronic) | 6 | 10 years | § 117.245(1), (3), Fla. Stat. |
| TX Texas | Required (electronic record) | 7 | 5 years | Tex. Gov't Code § 406.108(a)-(b); 1 TAC § 87.51(b)-(c) |
| VA Virginia | Required (electronic record) | 7 | 5 years | Va. Code § 47.1-14(C); Virginia Electronic Notarization Assurance Standard § 1.3 |
| WA Washington | tangible journal required; electronic optional | 5 | 10 years | RCW 42.45.180(3); WAC 308-30-200(2), (4) |
What an entry must hold
Strip each state's list down and the same four columns sit in every one: date and time, act and record, name and address, how identified. That is the spine of an entry anywhere. The fee is nearly universal too; only Washington leaves it out of the list. What differs is the rest, and the rest is where an entry written for one state fails in another.
| State | Beyond the core, an entry also holds |
|---|---|
| CO | Signature; Interpreter; Remote provider; the fee |
| FL | The fee, nothing more |
| KS | The fee, nothing more |
| ME | The fee, nothing more |
| MD | In person or remote; the fee |
| MO | Principal's electronic signature; Requester of fact; Place, if elsewhere; Signature software; the fee |
| NE | Recording; the fee |
| PA | The fee, nothing more |
| TX | Recording; the fee |
| VA | Recording; the fee |
| WA | Signature or remote note (no fee column) |
Two of those are easy to miss on a remote act. Missouri wants the program that made your electronic signature and where its license comes from, a column no other state on this list has. Florida wants the identity line to say the ID passed credential analysis and the signer passed identity proofing, which is the record of the two checks explained in identity proofing in RON. To test a real entry against your state's list, paste it into the journal entry check.
Fig. 2Paper, electronic, or both
A remote act changes what the journal itself must be. Here is the kind each state asks for, in its own rule's words:
- WAKeep one tangible journal (a permanent bound book with numbered pages) for all acts, including remote ones; an electronic journal may be kept only in addition to it. Note in the tangible journal that an act was performed remotely.
- MOKeep an electronic journal of remote online notarial acts and also record them in the permanently bound journal. The electronic journal needs two-factor access, no edits or deletions, a backup, and the ability to capture a signature image plus one biometric identifier.
- MEA journal is required for all electronic and remote notarizations (optional for in-person paper acts); an electronic journal must be in a permanent, tamper-evident electronic format.
- TXKeep a secure electronic record of every online notarization, maintained electronically in computers or storage devices, with a backup protected from unauthorized use and under your exclusive control.
- FLKeep one or more secure electronic journals of online notarizations, with a backup, protected from unauthorized access.
- VAKeep, protect and back up an electronic record of notarial acts. The Secretary's standard requires access by at least one authentication factor, entries that cannot be deleted or altered, a backup, and the record under your exclusive control.
- NEThe notary must create and keep an electronic record of each online notarial act, with a backup copy.
Virginia widened its rule in 2026: every notarial act, paper or electronic, now goes into a record of notarial acts, and a paper record of an act on or after July 1, 2026 is kept for at least five years. The remote-act rules above sit on top of that.
Where a state does say what an electronic journal must do, it is usually more than the platform's activity log does. Pennsylvania's list is the clearest:
- Built so an entry cannot be inserted between others, removed or substituted. 4 Pa. Code § 167.34(a)(1)
- Every entry numbered consecutively from the beginning to the end of the journal. 4 Pa. Code § 167.34(a)(2)
- Stored securely and recoverable if the hardware or software fails. 4 Pa. Code § 167.34(a)(3)
- Available as a PDF on request. 4 Pa. Code § 167.34(a)(4)
How long it is kept, and who may hold it
In Colorado, Kansas, Maine, Maryland and Washington the clock starts at the last act a journal records, not the first, so a journal you fill slowly is kept longer than its oldest page suggests. Elsewhere the rule counts from each act or transaction, or sets its own end. The period itself is in the table at the top. Who may hold the journal in the meantime is where the states part ways:
- KSKept 10 years after the last act it records, and only by you or the Secretary of State. No other repository may hold it, an employer included; the transfer form and the rest are on our Kansas page.
- PAWithin 30 days of resignation or expiration of the commission (unless the notary renews), the journal is delivered to the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the notary last kept an office.
- TXKept 5 years. You may contract storage to a third party that gives you complete access for the whole period; if that contract ends, every record comes back to you.
- FLKept 10 years. You may hand retention to a secure repository, with notice to the Department within 30 days and a journal entry naming it.
The session recording usually travels with the journal but does not always share its period or its holder; the recording retention guide sets the two side by side, and the retention date calculator turns a session date into the earliest date either may go.
Fig. 3What an entry must never hold
A journal is not a private diary: Texas, for one, treats its online notary's records as public information, copies on request. So two states say outright what stays out of an entry. Both are about numbers that would let someone steal the signer's identity.
The other states on file do not list a ban in the journal rule read here, but none of them asks for a Social Security number either; if a form field invites one, leave it blank. Maryland goes the other way on ID numbers and asks for the number of the credential used, so read your own state's rule before copying a habit from another.
Questions notaries ask
Does every state require a notary journal?
Not in the same way. Of the 12 states read here, all but Louisiana have a journal or record rule on file for remote acts; outside them, check your state's current rule. Maine, for one, requires a journal only for remote and electronic acts.
Can my RON platform's journal be my official journal?
Only if it holds every column your state lists and meets its rule for an electronic journal (tamper-evident, backed up, under your control). Pennsylvania's own provider list warns that platform journals may not be fully compliant. Export it and check.
How long do I keep a journal in Texas?
The record of an online notarization, with the recording and its backup, is kept for 5 years after the notarization. The Secretary of State calls keeping it longer a best practice.
Can I keep only an electronic journal in Washington?
No. Keep one tangible journal (a permanent bound book with numbered pages) for all acts, including remote ones; an electronic journal may be kept only in addition to it. Note in the tangible journal that an act was performed remotely. Which platforms suit a Washington notary, read against that rule, is in RON platforms for Washington notaries.
Do I record the signer's ID number?
It depends on the state. Maryland and Missouri ask for the credential's number; Pennsylvania forbids the full number and allows the last four digits. No state here asks for a Social Security number, and Missouri bars it.
Related
- Notary journal templatePick your state and print a journal page with the columns its rule asks for.
- Notary journal entry checkCheck one journal entry against the fields your state requires for a remote act.
- Electronic notary journals, comparedStandalone e-journals and platform journals, read against the entry fields states require and whether entries export.
- RON recording retention by stateHow long each state makes you keep the session recording, who may hold it, and what happens when you leave a platform.
- Pennsylvania's approved e-notary and RON technology providersThe Department of State's list split by e-notary and RON approval, read and dated.