Oregon Notary Journal Requirements — Bound Register, Ten-Year Retention (2026)
Yes. Oregon requires every notary to chronicle all notarial acts in a journal, and a journal kept on paper must be a permanent bound register with numbered pages. Printed loose pages do not satisfy Oregon law.
The statute: ORS 194.300 requires a notary public to maintain one or more journals chronicling all notarial acts performed. For format, the statute follows the uniform rule: a journal maintained on a tangible medium must be a permanent, bound register with numbered pages; an electronic journal must be in a permanent, tamper-evident electronic format.
Last updated: August 2026.
What each Oregon entry must include
The date and time of the act, a description of the record and the type of act, the name and address of each individual for whom the act is performed, "the signature of each individual for whom the notarial act is performed," how the signer was identified, and the fee charged (ORS 194.300(3)). The signer signs the Oregon journal, so the book is at the table at every signing. The Secretary of State's rules add format detail for the register itself, including tamper-resistant binding and preprinted page and line numbers (OAR 160-100-0200).
Retention, and what happens to the journal later
Ten years. ORS 194.300 requires the journal be retained for ten years after the last notarial act chronicled in it. Two dispositions are fixed by the statute: on revocation of a commission, the notary transmits the journal to the Secretary of State within 30 days, and on a notary's death or adjudicated incompetency, whoever holds the journal transmits it to the Secretary of State.
What Oregon notaries should buy
A bound journal with numbered pages from any notary supplier, or a compliant electronic journal. Nothing else satisfies ORS 194.300 for the journal itself.
One difference from some neighboring states: Oregon's statute says "one or more journals," so keeping separate journals is allowed. Whichever you keep, numbered pages are what make an old act findable, and each register stays with you for the full ten years after its last entry.
Questions Oregon notaries ask
Can I keep my Oregon journal electronically? Yes, in a permanent, tamper-evident electronic format. Loose printed pages qualify as neither a bound register nor a compliant electronic journal.
Do signers sign the Oregon journal? Yes. The signature of each individual for whom the act is performed is a required entry (ORS 194.300(3)).
Can I keep more than one journal in Oregon? Yes. The statute says one or more, which sets Oregon apart from states like Washington that allow only one tangible journal at a time.
How long do I keep my Oregon journal? Ten years after the last entry in it, and the duty continues past the end of a commission.
The honest note from us
Prep & Print Notary Journal sells a $19 app that prints filled-in journal pages, and printed pages do not comply with Oregon's bound-register rule. If you are commissioned in a state that leaves the journal format to you, the app is at prepandprintnotary.com. Oregon notaries: buy the bound book or a compliant electronic journal.
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: ORS 194.300. General information, not legal advice.
