Whether notary records are public depends on the state where the notarization took place. Some states treat a notary’s journal as a public record that anyone can request a copy from, some allow access only with a written request that meets specific procedural requirements, and others treat the journal as the notary’s private property that can be opened only by court order, subpoena, or law enforcement request.
Because there is no single national rule, your first step is to identify the state that commissioned the notary. That state’s law governs what you can see and how you have to ask.
The Three State Approaches
State policies on notary journal access fall into roughly three categories.
Fully public. Some states declare the notary journal a public record. Any person can request a certified copy of a specific entry, and the notary is legally obligated to provide one after receiving the appropriate fee. The notary cannot refuse or ask why you want it.
Public with conditions. Other states treat the journal as accessible but impose procedural requirements. You have to submit a written request identifying the parties, the type of document, and the approximate date of the notarization. The notary then provides a copy of only the specific entry, not the whole journal.
Private. A number of states treat the journal as the notary’s private property. Contents are confidential and unavailable to the general public. Access requires a court order, a subpoena, or a law enforcement request.
A few states allow notaries to keep two separate journals, one for public-record entries and one for confidential matters such as attorney-client privileged communications. The public journal is available for inspection; the confidential one is not. In at least one such state, if a notary keeps only one journal, the entire journal is presumed to be a public record.
How to Request a Journal Entry
In states where notary journals are accessible, you submit a written request directly to the notary. The request needs to identify the names of the parties to the notarization, the type of document that was notarized, and the month and year the notarization took place. Vague requests without those details are easy for a notary to reject as noncompliant.
Once the notary receives a proper request and the required fee, they provide a copy of the specific line item from the journal. You will not get to browse the full journal. Fee caps set by states are generally modest, often under a dollar per page. Many states also set a response deadline, commonly around 15 business days. If the notary cannot locate the entry, they are typically required to respond in writing confirming that no matching record exists.
The practical challenge is knowing which notary performed the act. If the document itself doesn’t name the notary, look for the stamp or seal impression. That stamp shows the notary’s name, commission number, and the state that issued the commission. Those three details are your starting point.
If You Can’t Find the Notary
Start with the state’s commissioning authority. In most states, the secretary of state’s office maintains a searchable database of active and recently expired notary commissions, which can give you the notary’s name, commission dates, and sometimes contact information or the county where they filed their oath of office.
If the commission has expired or the notary has died, check with the county clerk in the county where the notary resided. In many states, after a retention period, notaries either may or must deposit their journals with the county clerk, who can then certify copies of entries with the same authority the notary once had. If the journal was never surrendered, your options narrow. A court order directing the notary or their estate to produce the journal may be necessary, particularly if the entry is relevant to pending litigation.
What You Will and Won’t See
Expect to receive the factual details of the notarization: the date, the document type, the names of the parties, and the identity verification method the notary used, such as personal knowledge or an ID document like a driver’s license or passport. Many states also require the fee charged to appear in the entry.
Certain categories of personal information are withheld even in states with fully public journals. Several states prohibit notaries from recording Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, or state ID numbers in the journal at all. Keeping the number out of the journal in the first place is the point: what isn’t recorded can’t be disclosed.
Biometric data receives similar protection. Some states require a thumbprint for certain document types, most often deeds, deeds of trust, and powers of attorney, but separately restrict who can access that thumbprint. Other states prohibit notaries from collecting fingerprints or thumbprints at all. Either way, don’t expect to receive biometric data or government-issued ID numbers, even if they happen to appear in the notary’s records.
Remote Online Notarizations
A majority of states now authorize some form of remote online notarization, where the signer and notary connect by video rather than meeting in person. These transactions generate two records: an electronic journal entry with the same information a paper entry would contain, and an audio-video recording of the entire notarization session. Retention periods vary by state but commonly fall in the range of five to ten years, with some states setting a minimum of ten.
Access to the electronic journal entry follows the same state rules that govern paper journals. If your state treats notary journals as public records, you request the electronic entry through the same written-request process.
Audio-video recordings are treated more restrictively in many states because they contain the signer’s face, voice, and possibly visible identification documents. Access is more commonly limited to the parties involved, their authorized representatives, and law enforcement. If the notary’s commission has ended, the remote notarization platform provider may still retain the electronic journal and recording as a backup. Contact the platform directly if you know which service was used.
If the Notary Refuses
A refusal is not the end of the road. A notary who declines to provide a certified copy of a public-record entry when properly requested may face disciplinary action from the commissioning authority, usually the secretary of state, and potential civil liability. Filing a complaint puts real pressure on a noncompliant notary. Some states let the notary defend a late response based on unavoidable personal or business circumstances, but that defense has limits.
If the entry is critical for a legal proceeding, a subpoena remains available regardless of whether the state treats the journal as public or private. That path works in every state, and it is the standard route when the journal falls on the private side of the line or when the notary or their estate cannot be persuaded to cooperate voluntarily.