Does Alabama Require a Notary Journal? No — What to Keep Anyway (2026)
No. Alabama law does not require notaries to keep a journal. What record to keep, and in what form, is the notary's own decision.
Last updated: August 2026.
What Alabama law covers
Alabama's notary statutes (Code of Alabama title 36, chapter 20) govern commissions, seals, fees, and conduct, and probate judges commission notaries at the county level. The law does not tell notaries to keep a record of their acts.
The case for keeping one anyway
A journal answers the question that arrives years after a signing: did this person appear before you, and how did you know who they were? An entry with the date, the document, the ID checked, and the signer's own signature answers it with evidence. Without one, the answer is memory. The journal is your own record; Alabama sets no rules for who may see a voluntary record, and in a dispute it can be subpoenaed like any business record.
What format works in Alabama
Any consistent format: a bound book, printed pages kept in order, or an electronic record. Capture each act with the date, time, document, signer, identification, and fee, in the order the acts happen.
Questions Alabama notaries ask
Do Alabama signing agents need a journal for loan signings? Not by statute. Real estate documents are also the ones most likely to be questioned later, which makes loan signings the acts most worth recording.
Who commissions Alabama notaries? The probate judge of the notary's county, which is one of Alabama's distinctive arrangements. For questions about your duties, start with your county's probate office; the Secretary of State also publishes notary information.
Should signers sign my Alabama journal? Nothing requires it. A signature in your record is direct evidence the person appeared before you.
The record without the handwriting
Prep & Print Notary Journal fills in the entry on screen before the signing, prints it for ink signatures at the table, and keeps the saved entry in your browser on your own computer. It costs $19 once, at prepandprintnotary.com.
Every state's rule is on one page: Notary Journal Requirements by State.
Sources: Code of Ala. title 36, ch. 20 (notaries public). General information, not legal advice.
