How to Keep a Notary Journal in Washington State

To keep a notary journal in Washington State, record every notarial act at the time you perform it in a single bound book with numbered pages, capture the details required by RCW 42.45.180 and WAC 308-30-190, keep the journal locked and under your exclusive control, and retain it for ten years after the last entry.¹ Everything else follows from those four habits.

Who Has to Keep One

Every Washington notary public must maintain a journal. There is one narrow exception: a Washington-licensed attorney does not have to log a notarial act in the journal if the act is already documented through their legal practice.¹ Everyone else records every act personally. If you notarize as a bank employee, title company staffer, or standalone service, the fact that your employer keeps its own records does not relieve you of the duty.²

One Tangible Journal, Always

You are allowed one tangible journal at a time, and that book is the baseline regardless of what kinds of documents you notarize.¹ If you also hold an electronic records notary commission, you may keep an electronic journal too, but only in addition to the tangible one, never in place of it.³

The physical book itself must be permanent, bound, and have numbered pages.¹ A spiral notebook does not qualify. Neither does a loose-leaf binder. The binding and page numbers exist so that a missing or inserted page shows immediately. Pre-formatted journals sold by legal stationers are built to these specifications and label each field, which is a simple way to avoid leaving a required item blank.

What Every Entry Must Include

Record each act at the time of the notarization, not later from memory or receipts.² The statute sets the core fields:¹

The date and time of the act.
The type of notarial act performed and a brief description of the document, such as a deed of trust or power of attorney.
The full legal name and address of each person for whom you performed the act.

The administrative rules add more. You must describe how you identified the signer, whether by personal knowledge, a government-issued photo ID, or the oath of a credible witness.² If you relied on an ID credential, record its details, including issuance and expiration dates. If you relied on a credible witness, record the witness’s name and address and how you identified the witness.

Your tangible journal must also capture the principal’s signature for each act, or the signature of an authorized party who signed on the principal’s behalf.³

Batching Multiple Documents for One Signer

When the same person needs several documents notarized on the same date, you may use a single entry instead of copying the same information down repeatedly. That entry has to note the number of documents notarized and still include every other required detail.² Real estate closings are the obvious use case.

If You Keep an Electronic Journal

An electronic journal is optional, and it supplements rather than replaces the tangible book.³ If you decide to keep one, it must be tamper-evident, require a password or other authentication to access, back itself up, and be able to produce tangible or electronic copies of any entry on demand.

Many remote online notarization platforms include an integrated electronic journal. Before you rely on one, confirm it actually produces a compliant backup and uses a tamper-evident format.

Remote Notarizations

If you perform remote notarizations, the same tangible journal requirement applies.³ Two things change at the entry level. You do not collect the signer’s physical signature, since the signer is not present. And you must note in the journal that the act was performed remotely, so the entry explains itself and stays distinct from your in-person acts.

Keeping the Journal Secure

Your journal has to stay in a locked and secured area under your direct and exclusive control at all times.¹ Coworkers and supervisors do not get access. Failing to secure it is itself a ground the director can act on.

If the journal is lost or stolen, notify the Department of Licensing promptly on discovering the loss.¹ The administrative rules put an outer limit of 30 days after discovery on submitting a signed, dated written notice.⁴ Waiting the full 30 days is risky when the missing book contains identity information for every signer you have ever recorded.

Retention, End of Commission, and Ownership

Keep every journal for at least ten years after the last notarial act recorded in it, then destroy it as required by the director’s rules.¹ The obligation outlasts your commission. If you let your commission expire without renewing, the ten-year clock still runs.⁵ Store the book somewhere protected from water, fire, and unauthorized access for the full period.

When you resign or your commission is revoked or suspended, you keep the journal and tell the Department of Licensing where it is.¹ You do not hand it over to the department. If you kept an electronic journal, you must give the department access instructions so it can retrieve records if needed.⁵

One point catches many notaries by surprise: the journal is your exclusive property. Your employer cannot demand it, even if the employer paid for the journal itself, your surety bond, or your application fees.³ If you change jobs, the journal leaves with you.

What a Journal Violation Can Cost You

The director of the Department of Licensing can deny, refuse to renew, revoke, suspend, or condition a commission for conduct showing a lack of honesty, integrity, competence, or reliability.⁶ Journal-specific triggers include not keeping a journal at all, leaving required fields out, failing to secure the book, missing the retention rules, ignoring the reporting duty for a lost journal, and violating the director’s format rules for tangible or electronic journals. Administrative action against your commission is separate from any civil or criminal liability someone harmed by the notarization may pursue.

1
Washington State Legislature. RCW 42.45.180 – Journal
2
Washington State Legislature. WAC 308-30-190 – Journal of Notarial Acts Required
3
Washington State Legislature. WAC 308-30-200 – Format of Journals of Notarial Acts
4
Washington State Legislature. WAC 308-30 – Notaries Public
5
Washington State Legislature. WAC 308-30-210 – Notary Public Journal
6
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code Chapter 42.45 – Uniform Law on Notarial Acts