Notary Journal, Official Stamp, and Records
The official stamp
Oregon notaries use an inked stamp, not a seal, and the impression must be photographically reproducible. The stamp must show the notary's name exactly as commissioned, the title "Notary Public – State of Oregon," the commission number, and the commission expiration date. A stamp that omits the expiration date or shows an old name is defective. Keep the stamp secure; a lost or stolen stamp should be reported, because anyone holding it can produce a facially valid but fraudulent notarial act.
The journal
Think of the journal as the notary's contemporaneous, bound record of every act. Typical required entries: the date and time, the type of notarial act, the name of the signer, the signature of the signer, the type of identification used and any identifying number, the fee charged (if any), and the address where the act occurred when not at the notary's normal place. Some acts - such as oaths and affirmations not tied to a record - are journaled differently.
Records practice and traps
- Journal entries are made at the time of the act, not reconstructed later.
- The journal stays with the notary through the term and for the statutory retention period after the commission ends; it is not a personal diary to discard at renewal.
- Do not record more personal data than the law requires; a Social Security number in a journal is a common privacy trap.
- The journal may be inspected by the Secretary of State; refusing to produce it is itself a compliance problem.
Worked example
A signer presents a driver license. The notary records the license type and number, not a photocopy of the card, and does not write the signer's date of birth. Rule of thumb: record what proves identity, not everything the ID shows.