Notary journal
Not all states require the use of a notary journal, but its highly recommended to use a journal in any case. A notary journal is a bound and sequential book containing all of the notarial acts that a particular notary did. The notary's seal and current journal must be kept under lock and key. A notary might go through many journals in their career, so they have to keep their archives ( old journals that are completely filled in ) in a safe place. A standard journal has room for 500+ notary acts. The notary should record several pieces of information in their journal for each notarized signature. These include: The date and time of the notary act, type of notary act, type of document, name of document and document date, name of signer, address of signer, the way the signer was identified (ID# and type if applicable), signature of the signer, and thumbprint. There is also an additional notes section of the journal where you can record information about credible witnesses or other noteworthy things that happened at the signing.