Pennsylvania Notary Journal Entry Requirements

Journal entries should be made at the same time as the notarial act. Notary journal entries are required to contain ALL of the following:

• The date and time of the notarial act
• The type of notarial act (jurat, acknowledgment, etc.)
• A description of the record
• The full name of each person for whom the notarial act is performed
• The full address of each person for whom the notarial act is performed
• If identity of the person is based on personal knowledge, the Notary must state this in their journal
• If identity of the person is based on satisfactory evidence, the Notary must include “a brief description of the method of identification and any identification credential presented, including the date of issuance and expiration of an identification credential.”
• The fee charged for the notarial act.

Additional Journal Requirements

The Pennsylvania Department of State says: “A notary journal may not contain any personal financial or identification information about the notary’s clients, such as complete Social Security numbers, complete drivers’ license numbers or complete account numbers. Terminal numbers for these types of numbers, including the last four digits of a Social Security number, may be used to clarify which individual or account was involved.” (dos.pa.gov)

In sum, this means that a Notary journal cannot contain any complete personal financial or identification information about the Notary’s clients. However, terminal numbers – the last four digits of their Social Security card or account numbers – can be used for identification.

If your Notary journal is lost or stolen, you must notify the Pennsylvania Department of State within 15 days from the date you discovered the loss. The Notary can choose to file a police report for the stolen journal.

You can use this form Report of Loss Theft of Notary Equipment form 2019.pdf to report the loss or theft of your journal.

When you retire as a Notary in Pennsylvania, you must send your journal to your county’s office of the recorder of deeds within 30 days of your retirement.

You are required by law to send your journal to the county recorder if:

• You resign your Notary commission
• Your commission is revoked
• Your commission expires, unless you apply for a new Notary commission before your commission ends
• Death or “adjudication of incompetency” of a current or former Notary

Your Notary journal is your exclusive property.

A Notary journal cannot be used by anyone other than the Notary Public. A journal cannot be surrendered to an employer when the employee terminates their employment.