For Pennsylvania notaries, the notary journal is one of the most important tools you have. It creates an official record of the notarial acts you perform and helps protect both you and the public.

But here’s an important reminder: your notary journal is only for notarial acts.

If you also perform other duties in your workplace — such as PennDOT agent work, clerical tasks, administrative services, or other customer transactions — those activities should not be recorded in your notary journal unless they involve a notarial act.

What Belongs in Your Notary Journal?

Pennsylvania law requires a separate, chronological journal entry for each notarial act you perform. 

Each entry should be made at the same time as the notarization is completed and must be filled out completely, with no blank spaces.

What Does Not Belong in Your Journal?

Your journal is not a general work log, customer service record, or transaction tracker. Do not use it to record every service you provide throughout the day.

For example, if you are a notary who also works as a PennDOT agent, your journal should not include routine PennDOT transactions unless a notarization was performed as part of that transaction.

Keeping non-notarial information in your journal can create confusion and may expose customer information unnecessarily.

Be Careful What You Record

Your notary journal is a public record, which means someone may request to inspect it or ask for a certified copy of a specific entry or time period. Because of that, Pennsylvania notaries should be careful to record only the information required for the notarial act.

Never record personally identifiable information such as:
 

• Social Security numbers
• Full driver’s license or government-issued ID numbers
• Birth dates or birthplaces
• Mother’s maiden names
• Biometric, financial, medical, or employment information

What Each Journal Entry Should Include

Each notarial journal entry must include:
 

• The date and time of the notarization
• The type of notarial act performed
• A brief description of the document
• The notary fee charged, or “n/c,” “0,” or “—” if no fee
• Any clerical or administrative fees, listed separately
• The full name and address of the customer
• How the customer was identified, either through personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence

If identification was based on satisfactory evidence, include a brief description of the ID or credible witness used, including the issue and expiration dates for the identification credential.

Protect Your Journal, and Yourself

Your journal is your official notarial record. It is the exclusive property of the notary, not your employer, and it may not be used by anyone else. It should be kept secure when not in use.

The bottom line: if it wasn’t a notarial act, it doesn’t belong in your notary journal.

Maintaining a complete, accurate, and properly limited journal helps protect your commission, your customers, and the integrity of your notarial acts.