Does Minnesota Require a Notary Journal? No for Paper Acts (2026)
Not for traditional work. Minnesota law does not require a journal for ordinary, in-person paper notarizations. Remote online notarization carries its own record and retention rules for online acts. For paper work, the record you keep is up to you.
Last updated: August 2026.
What Minnesota law covers
Minnesota's notary statutes (Minnesota Statutes chapters 358 and 359) govern commissions, conduct, fees, and remote notarization. For in-person paper acts, they are silent on journals: no requirement, no format, no retention period. Remote online notarizations are the exception, with record duties attached to those acts under the remote notarization provisions.
The case for keeping one anyway
Minnesota notaries handle the documents that surface in disputes years later: powers of attorney, estate paperwork, real estate documents. When a question comes, it is the same one everywhere: did this person appear before you, and how did you know who they were? A journal entry with the date, the ID details, and the signer's own signature answers it. The journal is your own record; in a dispute it can be subpoenaed like any business record, and the notary who kept one has evidence.
What format works in Minnesota
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, and keep entries in the order the acts happen.
Questions Minnesota notaries ask
Do Minnesota signing agents need a journal for loan signings? Not by statute. Loan signings are also the acts most worth recording, since real estate documents are the ones that get questioned.
Does remote notarization change anything? Remote acts have their own record rules under Minnesota's remote notarization provisions. For in-person work, keeping a record remains your choice.
Should signers sign my Minnesota 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: Minn. Stat. chs. 358 and 359 (notarial acts; notaries public). General information, not legal advice.
