Notarial Registers, Records, and Document Retention
The register
The notarial register is a chronological record of each act. Entries typically include the entry number, date, act type, signer and parties, identity evidence, fee, and the notary’s signature. The register is an official record, but access may be restricted. The notary must record the act at or near the time performed; backdating or reconstructing entries defeats the register’s purpose.
Retention and copies
The notary must retain the register, certificates, and copies required by statute for the prescribed period. Certified copies should be issued only from the notary’s records and only for acts the notary performed. Electronic records must be protected against alteration and retained in a readable format.
Worked example
A notary realizes that a jurat completed last week was never entered in the register. The notary should not insert a false earlier date. The notary should make a contemporaneous corrective entry that truthfully states the omission and the date of correction, following local rules, and preserve the original certificate.
Traps
Recording only acknowledgments and omitting jurats; leaving the register unsecured; discarding records at commission expiry when statute requires longer retention; and issuing a “certified copy” of a document the notary never saw or did not notarize.