RON recording retention date calculator

How long do you keep a session recording, and the journal entry that goes with it? Enter the session date and your state; the calculator applies the state's period and gives the last day you must still have each, with the rule linked. For who may hold them meanwhile, read RON recording retention by state; the journal and seal rules sit beside it under journals, records and e-seals.

Pre-filled with a Texas session on 2026-10-22. Change the state or the date.

State whose law governed the act

Date of the session

Keep the recording until at least

2031-10-22

5 years from the session (Tex. Gov't Code § 406.108(a)(6), (c); 1 TAC §§ 87.51(b), 87.54(b)). The first day it may go is 2031-10-23.

Journal: keep until at least 2031-10-22, 5 years from the act (Tex. Gov't Code § 406.108(c); 1 TAC § 87.54(b)).

Art Deco illustration of a blank calendar grid beside a filing cabinet with a webcam on top

What it works out

Every state with a period on file sets the recording's in years from the act, so the arithmetic is simple and the mistakes are not in it. They are in which date you count from and which state's period applies. The calculator counts from the session date, uses the period of the state whose law governed the act (where you were commissioned and sat, not where the signer was), and returns two dates: the last day you must still have the recording, and the first day it may go.

The journal gets its own line because its clock is not always the recording's. In some states it runs from the last act the journal records, so the calculator asks for that date when your state counts that way. Pennsylvania ends a journal differently, by handing it to the county recorder, and the line says so.

Worked examples

Three sessions, worked by the rule: the same month and day, the period's years later, then the next day. A February 29 session ends on March 1 when the end year has no February 29, the later of the two readings.

Worked retention dates
State	Session	Period	Keep until	May go from
TX	2026-10-22	5 years	2031-10-22	2031-10-23
MD	2026-10-22	10 years	2036-10-22	2036-10-23
FL	2028-02-29	10 years	2038-03-01	2038-03-02

The first row is what the calculator shows when it opens. For the Maryland session, a journal whose last entry is the same day ends with the recording; fill the journal for another eight months and its date moves eight months with it, while the recording's does not.

State notes

Recording and journal periods by state
State	Recording	Journal	Journal counts from
CO	10 years	10 years	the last act
FL	10 years	10 years	each act
KS	10 years	10 years	the last act
LA	check	check	—
ME	10 years	10 years	the last act
MD	10 years	10 years	the last act
MO	10 years	10 years	each act
NE	10 years	10 years	each act
PA	10 years	to the county Recorder of Deeds within 30 days	—
TX	5 years	5 years	each act
VA	5 years	5 years	each act
WA	10 years	10 years	the last act

WA A new version of RCW 42.45.280 takes effect on 2027-01-01; the recording's 10 years stays the same. See the Washington comparison.
FL The RON service provider keeps an uninterrupted, unedited copy of the audio-video recording; recordings are kept at least 10 years after the notarial act. The provider may delegate keeping the recordings to a secure repository by contract (and the notary may do the same for the journal), each with notice to the Department within 30 days. More in the Florida comparison.
TX Storage may be contracted to a third party that gives you complete access for the whole period; see the Texas comparison.

What it works out

Worked examples

State notes

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