Nevada Notary Journal Requirements — Required, Signed by Signers, Kept Seven Years
Yes. Nevada requires every notary to keep a journal and to enter each notarial act in it at the time the act is performed. Nevada also puts the signer into the record directly: each entry includes the signature of the person whose signature is being notarized.
The statute: Nevada Revised Statutes 240.120 requires a notary public to keep a journal and to enter the details of each notarial act at the time it is performed. The statute also requires the journal be kept in a secure location when not in use and be retained until seven years after the notary ceases to be a notary.
Last updated: August 2026.
What each Nevada entry must include
- The date and the fee charged
- The title or type of document
- The name and signature of the person whose signature is notarized
- A description of the evidence used to verify identity, or credible-witness verification
- Whether an oath or affirmation was administered
Format: a bound volume, by statute
NRS 240.120 answers the format question directly: the journal must be in a bound volume with preprinted page numbers, and it must be open to public inspection. Entries run chronologically as acts occur, and the signer-signature requirement means the journal is physically present at every signing.
Questions Nevada notaries ask
Do signers sign the Nevada journal? Yes, with one narrow exception. The entry includes the name and signature of the person whose signature is being notarized. The statute lets the notary skip the signature only when all three are true: the notary performed a notarial act for that person within the past six months, has personal knowledge of their identity, and the person is an employer or coworker in an act relating to ordinary business. The notary enters "known personally" instead.
What if my Nevada journal is lost or stolen? File a report with the Secretary of State and the appropriate law enforcement agency. That duty is written into NRS 240.120.
How long do I keep my Nevada journal? Until seven years after you cease to be a notary. That can mean keeping journals long after a commission ends.
Where do I keep my Nevada journal? In a secure location during any period you are not making an entry. Nevada treats the journal as a protected record, not loose paperwork.
Can someone request a copy of a Nevada journal entry? Yes. Upon request and payment of the statutory fee, the notary provides a certified copy of an entry. That duty is written into NRS 240.120 itself.
The honest note from us
Prep & Print Notary Journal sells a $19 app that prints filled-in journal pages, and Nevada's statute requires a bound volume with preprinted page numbers. Printed pages are not that. If you are commissioned in a state that leaves the journal format to you, the app is at prepandprintnotary.com. Nevada notaries: buy the bound book.
Update, September 2026: we make a bound edition now. The Prep & Print bound journal is on Amazon — permanently bound, one signing per two-page spread, preprinted page and entry numbers, signature and thumbprint boxes, in five cover colors.
Every state's rule is on one page: Notary Journal Requirements by State.
Statute: NRS 240.120. General information, not legal advice.
