AL Notary Notary Record-Keeping and Journal 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Is an Alabama notary required by state law to maintain a notary journal?
- Alabama law does not mandate a journal but strongly recommends one for liability protection (Correct answer)
- Yes, all Alabama notaries must keep a journal by law
- Only notaries who handle real estate transactions must keep a journal
- Only electronic notaries are required to keep a journal
Correct answer: Alabama law does not mandate a journal but strongly recommends one for liability protection
Alabama does not legally require notaries to maintain a journal, but best practice strongly recommends it to protect against fraud claims.
Question 2: What information is recommended to be recorded in an Alabama notary's journal entry?
- Date, type of act, document type, signer's name and ID, and fee charged (Correct answer)
- Only the signer's name and the document type
- The signer's full Social Security number and address
- The document's full text and all parties' signatures
Correct answer: Date, type of act, document type, signer's name and ID, and fee charged
A complete journal entry should record the date, notarial act type, document type, signer identification, and any fee collected.
Question 3: An Alabama notary's journal should be kept:
- In a bound, paginated book or secure electronic format (Correct answer)
- On loose-leaf paper stored in a filing cabinet
- As part of the notarized document itself
- Only in digital form after 2020
Correct answer: In a bound, paginated book or secure electronic format
A bound, sequentially paginated journal is recommended because it prevents pages from being removed or replaced without detection.
Question 4: How long should an Alabama notary retain journal records after the commission expires?
- Best practice recommends retaining records for at least 10 years (Correct answer)
- Records should be destroyed immediately upon commission expiration
- Records must be retained for 3 years under Alabama law
- Records are transferred to the Secretary of State upon expiration
Correct answer: Best practice recommends retaining records for at least 10 years
Although not mandated, best practice in Alabama is to retain journal records for at least 10 years given Alabama's 10-year statute of limitations for fraud.
Question 5: An Alabama notary receives a subpoena for their notary journal. The notary should:
- Comply with the subpoena and provide the journal as directed by the court (Correct answer)
- Refuse and claim notary-signer privilege
- Contact the Secretary of State before responding
- Destroy the journal to protect client privacy
Correct answer: Comply with the subpoena and provide the journal as directed by the court
A notary must comply with a court subpoena; there is no notary-client privilege in Alabama that would allow withholding the journal.
Question 6: When an Alabama notary journal is lost or stolen, the notary should:
- Report the loss to local law enforcement and notify the Secretary of State (Correct answer)
- Simply purchase a new journal and continue notarizing
- Suspend all notarial activities permanently
- Reconstruct entries from memory and file with the county probate court
Correct answer: Report the loss to local law enforcement and notify the Secretary of State
Reporting the loss protects the notary from liability if someone misuses the journal and helps document the chain of custody.
AL Notary Notary Record-Keeping and Journal 1
Is an Alabama notary required by state law to maintain a notary journal?