6.2 Journal Requirements

The Two-Track Journal Rule

North Carolina has a split rule that the exam tests directly: the journal is permissive ("may") for traditional paper notarizations but mandatory for remote online notarization (RON). Memorize which track applies to which act, because the wrong choice is the most common journal-question miss.

Why Keep a Journal Even When Optional

The Secretary of State and the NC Notary Public Guidebook (published by the UNC School of Government) urge every notary to keep a journal. In a courtroom, the notary's contemporaneous record is often the only proof that proper procedure was followed. A journal provides:

• Evidence the signer personally appeared and was properly identified;
• A defense against forgery or "I never signed that" allegations;
• A record of the fee collected, rebutting overcharge claims;
• A professional audit trail if the commission is investigated.

Without a journal, the notary's word stands alone against a litigant's, and the notary is personally liable for any harm caused by an improper act.

What Every Journal Entry Should Capture

Worked Example: A Real-Estate Deed Entry

RON: Journal AND Recording Are Mandatory

For a remote online notarization, North Carolina requires two retained items, both kept for at least 10 years after the act:

1. An electronic journal that is the exclusive property of the notary — an employer or platform cannot own or withhold it; and
2. The communication-technology (audio-video) recording of the entire RON session.

These records must be secure, backed up, and tamper-evident, and produced on lawful request (for example, a subpoena or a Secretary of State investigation). Losing custody of a RON journal or recording is a serious compliance failure.

Journal Security Best Practices

• Use a bound, sequentially numbered physical journal so pages cannot be removed unnoticed.
• Record in permanent ink; never erase — line through and initial corrections.
• Never leave the journal open and unattended at a public counter; it holds sensitive identity data.
• Store completed journals securely; many notaries keep records well beyond any minimum for liability protection.

How a Journal Saves a Notary in a Real Dispute

Consider a common scenario. Two years after a notary acknowledges a deed of trust, the signer's heirs sue, claiming the signer never appeared and the signature was forged. If the notary kept no journal, the case becomes the notary's memory of a routine event against a sworn family member with a financial motive — a fight the notary often loses, and the notary is personally liable for the resulting loss. If the notary kept a journal, the entry shows the date, that a North Carolina driver license was presented and recorded, the fee charged, and the signer's own signature in the book.

That contemporaneous record frequently ends the claim before it reaches trial. This is precisely why the Secretary of State and the NC Notary Public Guidebook push so hard for journals even where the statute only says "may."

Correcting and Preserving Entries

Never erase or obliterate a journal entry. If you make a mistake, draw a single line through it so the original remains legible, write the correction, and initial and date the change. This mirrors how courts expect business records to be maintained and prevents an opposing attorney from arguing the book was altered after the fact. Keep entries in chronological order with no skipped or blank lines that could later be filled in. For a physical journal, a bound and sequentially numbered book is far stronger evidence than loose sheets, because missing pages would be obvious.

RON Records Are Discoverable

Because the RON electronic journal and the audio-video recording are kept for a decade, they are routinely subpoenaed in litigation and reviewed in Secretary of State investigations. A notary who cannot produce a required RON record — because it was deleted early, stored only on a vendor platform the notary no longer controls, or never captured — faces discipline independent of whether the underlying notarization was sound. Treat custody and backup of RON records as a core compliance duty, not an afterthought.

Exam Watch-Outs

• "Required" for paper? No. "Required" for RON? Yes.
• RON retention = 10 years for both the electronic journal and the recording.
• The RON electronic journal is the notary's exclusive property, not the employer's.
• The journal is the notary's best evidence and a primary defense against forgery and negligence claims.
• Never erase entries — line through, correct, and initial; keep a bound, numbered book.