Notary Public 101 On-line - The Functions and Duties of a California Notary Public
Government Code
8206. Sequential journal; contents; thumbprint; loss of journal; copies of pages; exclusive property of notary public; limitations on surrender
- A notary public shall keep one active sequential journal at a time, of all official acts performed as a notary public. The journal shall be kept in a locked and secured area, under the direct and exclusive control of the notary. Failure to secure the journal shall be cause for the Secretary of State to take administrative action against the commission held by the notary public pursuant to Section 8214.1.
- The journal shall be in addition to, and apart from, any copies of notarized documents that may be in the possession of the notary public and shall include all of the following:
- Date, time, and type of each official act.
- Character of every instrument sworn to, affirmed, acknowledged, or proved before the notary.
- The signature of each person whose signature is being notarized.
- A statement as to whether the identity of a person making an acknowledgment or taking an oath or affirmation was based on satisfactory evidence. If identity was established by satisfactory evidence pursuant to Section 1185 of the Civil Code, then the journal shall contain the signature of the credible witness swearing or affirming to the identity of the individual or the type of identifying document, the governmental agency issuing the document, the serial or identifying number of the document, and the date of issue or expiration of the document.
- If the identity of the person making the acknowledgment or taking the oath or affirmation was established by the oaths or affirmations of two credible witnesses whose identities are proven to the notary public by presentation of any document satisfying the requirements of paragraph (3) or (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 1185 of the Civil Code, the notary public shall record in the journal the type of documents identifying the witnesses, the identifying numbers on the documents identifying the witnesses, and the dates of issuance or expiration of the documents identifying the witnesses.
- The fee charged for the notarial service.
- If the document to be notarized is a deed, quitclaim deed, deed of trust, or other document affecting real property, or a power of attorney document, the notary public shall require the party signing the document to place his or her right thumbprint in the journal. If the right thumbprint is not available, then the notary shall have the party use his or her left thumb, or any available finger and shall so indicate in the journal. If the party signing the document is physically unable to provide a thumbprint or fingerprint, the notary shall so indicate in the journal and shall also provide an explanation of that physical condition. This paragraph shall not apply to a trustee's deed resulting from a decree of foreclosure or a nonjudicial foreclosure pursuant to Section 2924 of the Civil Code, nor to a deed of reconveyance.
- If a sequential journal of official acts performed by a notary public is stolen, lost, misplaced, destroyed, damaged, or otherwise rendered unusable as a record of notarial acts and information, the notary public shall immediately notify the Secretary of State by certified or registered mail or any other means of physical delivery that provides a receipt. The notification shall include the period of the journal entries, the notary public commission number, and the expiration date of the commission, and when applicable, a photocopy of any police report that specifies the theft of the sequential journal of official acts.
- Upon written request of any member of the public, which request shall include the name of the parties, the type of document, and the month and year in which notarized, the notary shall supply a photostatic copy of the line item representing the requested transaction at a cost of not more than thirty cents ($0.30) per page.
- The journal of notarial acts of a notary public is the exclusive property of that notary public, and shall not be surrendered to an employer upon termination of employment, whether or not the employer paid for the journal, or at any other time. The notary public shall not surrender the journal to any other person, except the county clerk, pursuant to Section 8209, or immediately, or if the journal is not present then as soon as possible, upon request to a peace officer investigating a criminal offense who has reasonable suspicion to believe the journal contains evidence of a criminal offense, as defined in Sections 830.1, 830.2, and 830.3 of the Penal Code, acting in his or her official capacity and within his or her authority. If the peace officer seizes the notary journal, he or she must have probable cause as required by the laws of this state and the United States. A peace officer or law enforcement agency that seizes a notary journal shall notify the Secretary of State by facsimile within 24 hours, or as soon as possible thereafter, of the name of the notary public whose journal has been seized. The notary public shall obtain a receipt for the journal, and shall notify the Secretary of State by certified mail any other means of physical delivery that provides a receipt within 10 days that the journal was relinquished to a peace officer. The notification shall include the period of the journal entries, the commission number of the notary public, the expiration date of the commission, and a photocopy of the receipt. The notary public shall obtain a new sequential journal. If the journal relinquished to a peace officer is returned to the notary public and a new journal has been obtained, the notary public shall make no new entries in the returned journal. A notary public who is an employee shall permit inspection and copying of journal transactions by a duly designated auditor or agent of the notary public's employer, provided that the inspection and copying is done in the presence of the notary public and the transactions are directly associated with the business purposes of the employer. The notary public, upon the request of the employer, shall regularly provide copies of all transactions that are directly associated with the business purposes of the employer, but shall not be required to provide copies of any transaction that is unrelated to the employer's business. Confidentiality and safekeeping of any copies of the journal provided to the employer shall be the responsibility of that employer.
- The notary public shall provide the journal for examination and copying in the presence of the notary public upon receipt of a subpoena duces tecum or a court order, and shall certify those copies if requested.
- Any applicable requirements of, or exceptions to, state and federal law shall apply to a peace officer engaged in the search or seizure of a sequential journal.
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Unit 6. The Law
GC 8200. Appointment and commission GC 8201. Qualifications; proof; reappointment GC 8201.1. Qualifications; identification; fingerprints GC 8201.2. Educational courses GC 8201.5. Application GC 8202. Jurat; administration of oath GC 8202.5. Government employees GC 8202.7. Private employers; treatment of notary expenses GC 8202.8. Private employers; limitation on notarial services GC 8203.1. Military and naval reservations; appointment; qualifications GC 8203.2. Military and naval; recommendation and jurisdiction GC 8203.3. Military and naval reservations; additional qualifications GC 8203.4. Military and naval; term, termination and resignation GC 8203.5. Military and naval; jurat GC 8203.6. Military and naval; fees GC 8204. Term of office GC 8204.1. Cancellation of commission; failure to pay; notice GC 8205. Duties GC 8206. Notary journal GC 8206.5. Response time for a request GC 8207. Notary seal GC 8207.1. Identification number GC 8207.2. Notary seal; authorized manufacturers GC 8207.3. Notary seal; procurement procedures GC 8207.4. Violations; penalties GC 8208. Protests GC 8209. Resignation, disqualification or removal; records GC 8211. Fees GC 8212. Bond; amount; form GC 8213. Bonds and oaths; filing; transfer; name changes; fees GC 8213.5. Change of address GC 8213.6. Name changes; application; filing GC 8214. Misconduct or neglect GC 8214.1. Grounds for refusal, revocation or suspension of commission GC 8214.15. Civil penalties GC 8214.2. Fraud relating to deed of trust; felony GC 8214.3. Right to hearing GC 8214.4. State right to investigation and disciplinary proceedings GC 8214.5. Revocation of commission; filing copy with county clerk GC 8214.8. Revocation of commission; surrender of seal GC 8214.21. Failure to provide journal; penalty GC 8214.23. Failure to obtain thumbprint; penalty GC 8216. Release of surety GC 8219.5. Advertising requirements and restrictions GC 8220. Rules and regulations GC 8221. Destruction, defacement or concealment of records; misdemeanor GC 8222. Injunction; reimbursement for expenses GC 8223. Immigration issues affecting notaries GC 8224. Conflict of interest; financial or beneficial interest GC 8224.1. Writings, depositions or affidavits of notary public GC 8225. Improper notarial acts, solicitation, coercion; misdemeanor GC 8227.1. Unlawful acts by one not a notary public; misdemeanor GC 8227.3. Unlawful acts; deeds of trust; felony GC 8228. Enforcement of chapter; examination of books GC 8228.1. Failure to perform duty; misdemeanor GC 8230. Identification of affiant; verification GC 1360. Necessity of taking constitutional oath GC 1362. Administration by authorized officer GC 6100. Performance of services; officers; notaries public GC 6107. Veterans GC 6108. Oaths of office; claim against counties GC 6109. Receipt of fees; written account; officer liability GC 6110. Performance of services following payment; officer liability GC 6203. False certificate or writing by officer GC 6707. Last day for filing an instrument GC 6800. Computation of time in which act is to be done GC 27287. Acknowledgment of execution by subscribing witness; exceptions GC 66433. Content and form; application of article GC 66436. Statement of consent; nonliability for omission; acknowledgment CC 14. Words and phrases; construction; tense; gender; number CC 1181. Notaries public; officers before whom proof may be made CC 1183.5. Notarial acts CC 1185. Acknowledgments; requisites CC 1188. Certificate of acknowledgment CC 1189. Certificate of acknowledgment; form CC 1190. Certificate of acknowledgment as prima facie evidence CC 1193. Certificate of acknowledgment; authentication CC 1195. Proof of execution; methods; certificate form CC 1196. Subscribing witness; establishment of identity CC 1197. Subscribing witness; items to be proved CC 1633.11. Notarization and signature under penalty of perjury requirements CC 1633.12. Retaining records; electronic satisfaction CCP 1935. Subscribing witness defined CCP 2093. Officers authorized to administer oaths or affirmations CCP 2094. Oath to witness; form BPC 6125. Unlawful Practice of Law BPC 22441. Definitions; violations BPC 22442.2. Posted notice; required information; written disclosure BPC 22442.3. Literal translations; misleading use; bonding requirements EC 8080. Fee for verification CMC 3505. Protest; Noting for Protest PC 4307. Certified copies of power of attorney PNC 17. Felony; misdemeanor; infraction; classification of offenses PNC 115.5. Filing false or forged documents relating to single-family residences PNC 118. Perjury defined; evidence necessary to support conviction PNC 126. Punishment PNC 470. Forgery; counterfeiting; falsification of documents; fraud PNC 830.3. Peace officers; employing agencies; authority