If you have attended a PAN Notary Reappointment seminar in the past month or so, you probably have an inkling of what's involved in a RULONA-compliant journal.

A register is known as a journal in this new notary public law. You will be required to include more details, i.e., more information per notarization in the journal.

Inside the front cover, you will need to list:

1. Your name as it appears on your commission
2. Your commission number
3. Your commission expiration date
4. Your office of record address - the one you listed with the Department of State
5. A statement that, in the event of your death, the journal(s) will be delivered or mailed to the office of the Recorder of Deeds in the county where you last maintained your office of record
6. The meaning of any not commonly abbreviated words or symbols used in recording a notary act in the journal
7. Your signature

If your name, commission expiration date or address changes before you cease using the journal, you may add the new information after the old information and the date on which the information changed.

Journal entries

Each notarization must be entered into the journal and include:

• The date and time of the notary act. It is always the date and time in which your customer stands before you in person.
• A description of the record, if any, and the type of notary act.
• Notary fee, if charged
• Clerical and administrative fees, if charged
  • If yu do not charge a notary fee and/or a clerical or administrative fee, you must enter 0 (zero) or N/C for "No Charge" in these spaces.
• Customer information including name and city and state where the customer lives.
• Statement regarding the method of identification and any identification credential presented, including the date of issue and expiration date.

Other pertinent information may be included and written in the Remarks column. However, do not include the customer's personal information such as full driver's license, Social Security or state identification card numbers, financial account numbers, etc., in your journal.

Each entry must be made at the time of the notarization. As always, the entries must be in chronological order.

Types of journals

A paper journal must be bound to prevent the insertion, removal or substitution of the cover or pages. Each page must be consecutively numbered from the beginning to the end of the journal. If the journal provides two pages on which to record the required information about the same notary act, then both pages may be numbered with the same number or each page may be numbered with a different number. Page numbers must be preprinted in the journal.

A journal in an electronic format must be tamper-evident (tamper proof). It can be in any form that meeets the State's requirements and is designed to prevent the insertion, removal or alteration of an entry. Additionally, an electronic journal must be securely stored and recoverable in the event of a hardware or software malfunction. Entries from this type of journal must be available upon demand by the Department of State in a PDF format.

If a signature of a signer is contained in an electronic journal, the signature must be attached to or logically associated with the electronic journa, linked to the data in a way that alterations to the electronic journal entry are detectable and may invalidate the journal entry. An electronic journal must be delivered to the office of the recorder of deeds in a format prescribed by the recorder upon a notary's retirement, resignation or revocation of the commission within 30 days, just like the printed version.

When you need a RULONA-compliant journal

You may continue to use your current register (journal) but it must be modified to include all the information required by RULONA. Upon beginning your next commission, you will be required to purchase a RULONA-compliant journal, no matter how many entries are left in your register.