4.4 Seal & Journal Upon Commission End

How a Commission Ends

An Ohio notary commission runs for a five-year term (an attorney notary holds office for as long as the attorney remains admitted to practice in Ohio, rather than a fixed five-year term). A commission can end in several ways, and the wind-down duties are the same:

The instant the commission ends, the person must stop performing all notarial acts. There is no grace period; an act performed after expiration is not a valid notarization.

Destroy the Seal

Once the commission ends, the seal no longer represents a valid officer, so it must be destroyed to prevent misuse.

Dispose of the pieces so the seal cannot be reassembled, and consider documenting the destruction. The risk of leaving a seal intact is concrete: a stolen or borrowed seal can be used to forge acknowledgments in your name, exposing you to investigation even though you no longer hold a commission.

Handle the Journal

The journal's fate depends on whether it is paper or RON-electronic.

For RON, this is a statutory duty: upon resignation, revocation, or expiration without renewal, the online notary must transmit the electronic journal to the Secretary of State or to a repository approved by the Secretary of State. If it goes to a repository rather than the SOS directly, the former notary must inform the Secretary of State where the journal is located. This preserves the chronological record — and the linked audio-video recordings — for any later dispute.

Voluntary paper journals are not collected by the state, but keeping them is wise: real-estate and probate disputes can surface years later, and the journal may be the notary's only defense.

End-of-Commission Checklist

• Stop performing all notarial acts immediately on the end date
• Destroy the physical seal (cut stamp / break embosser); deactivate the electronic seal
• Transmit the RON electronic journal to the SOS or an approved repository, and report the repository location if used
• Retain any paper journal in secure storage
• Remove "Notary Public" from business cards, signatures, and signage
• Notify your employer of the change in status

Renewal Without a Gap

If you are renewing rather than ending, the timing matters:

Liability Continues

Ending a commission does not erase responsibility for past acts. You can be questioned, sued, or investigated for notarizations performed while commissioned, subject to the applicable statute of limitations. That is precisely why retained journals and properly transmitted RON records matter after the commission is gone.

The Hard Stop on the End Date

The most consequential rule at commission end is the simplest: the authority to notarize stops the moment the commission ends. An acknowledgment taken even one day after expiration is void as a notarial act, and signing or sealing as a notary after that date can expose the former notary to civil liability and even criminal exposure for impersonating an officer. Notaries should track their expiration date well in advance and renew before it lapses, because Ohio provides no grace period and no retroactive cure for acts performed during a gap.

Death and the Estate's Duties

When a notary dies, the commission terminates automatically, and the practical duties fall to the family or estate. The seal must be destroyed and any RON electronic journal transmitted to the Secretary of State or an approved repository just as if the notary had resigned. Critically, the seal belongs to the individual, not the employer — so even if a bank or law firm purchased the stamp, no surviving coworker may continue to use it. The estate should secure any paper journal too, because real-estate and probate matters can require those records years later.

Revocation Versus Expiration

The wind-down steps are identical whether the commission expires quietly or is revoked for cause, but revocation carries extra weight. A revocation is a disciplinary action by the Secretary of State and becomes part of the person's record; it can bar or complicate any future application for a commission. In a revocation, destroying the seal promptly and transmitting RON records are not just housekeeping — they demonstrate compliance at a moment when the notary's conduct is already under scrutiny.

Putting It Together: A Clean Exit

A disciplined exit protects the former notary for years. The sequence is: confirm the end date, stop all acts, destroy the physical seal and deactivate the electronic seal, transmit the RON electronic journal to the SOS or an approved repository (and report the repository's location if one is used), retain any paper journal in secure storage, and strip the 'Notary Public' title from cards, email signatures, and signage.

Because liability for past acts survives the commission, the retained journal and the transmitted RON records — including the linked audio-video recordings — remain the former notary's best defense if an old notarization is ever challenged.