Mississippi Notary Journal Requirements

Mississippi requires every notary to maintain a journal of all notarial acts — and then, unlike almost every other state, requires you to destroy it. The 10-year mandatory destruction rule is one of the most unusual compliance obligations in notary law, and most notaries don't know about it until they're already in violation.

The Physical Journal Requirement

Your journal must be a permanently bound book with consecutively numbered pages. Spiral-bound notebooks, loose-leaf binders, and legal pads don't qualify. The binding requirement exists to create a tamper-evident record — numbered pages make it obvious if a page has been removed.

If you choose to maintain an electronic journal instead, it must use a secure, tamper-evident format that prevents insertions or deletions after the fact. The digital file must be exportable to PDF and available to the Secretary of State upon request.

The Single-Journal Rule

Mississippi enforces a strict single-journal rule: you may maintain only one active journal at a time. This applies across all notarization types — your traditional paper notarizations and any in-person electronic notarizations (IPEN) you perform must be logged in the same journal.

You can't keep one journal at the office and another in your car for mobile signings. When your current journal is full, retire it and start a new one — never run two journals concurrently.

What to Record for Each Notarization

Under Mississippi Administrative Code Title 1, Part 5, Chapter 4, every journal entry must be made contemporaneously — at the time of the notarial act, not afterward from memory. Each entry must include:

• Date and time of the notarization
• Type of notarial act (acknowledgment, jurat, oath, etc.)
• Description of the document being notarized
• Full name and address of the signer
• Method used to identify the signer (government-issued photo ID, personal knowledge, or credible witness)
• Fee charged (or notation that the fee was waived)
• Your signature as the notary

The First-Page Identification Requirement

Before your first notarization, you must complete a mandatory identification section on page one of your journal. Under Administrative Rule 5-4.1, this page must include your commissioned name, commission number, commission expiration date, registered office address, official signature, an explanation of any non-standard abbreviations used in the log, and the following statutory notice:

"In the event of the death of the notary public, this journal shall be delivered or mailed to the Circuit Clerk of the county of residence of the notary public."

The 10-Year Destruction Rule

Here's where Mississippi diverges from every other state. Under Mississippi Code Section 25-34-37, you must destroy your journal exactly 10 years after the date of the last recorded entry.

Most states treat notary journals as permanent historical records to be archived indefinitely or deposited with a government agency. Mississippi takes a privacy-first approach, requiring destruction to eliminate long-term exposure of personally identifiable information.

For paper journals, destruction means shredding or incineration. For electronic journals, it means permanent deletion of the log file along with any associated cryptographic keys and tamper-evident records.

This creates a real compliance burden for corporate employers. If a law firm or real estate office retains a former employee's notary journal beyond the 10-year mark, the company is in violation of state administrative rules. Businesses that employ in-house notaries need document retention policies that track journal destruction dates.

When to Surrender Your Journal

If your commission expires, is revoked, or you resign, deposit all journals with the Circuit Clerk of your county of residence within 30 days. If a notary dies or is adjudicated incompetent, their personal representative or guardian handles the deposit.

Report a lost or stolen journal to the Secretary of State within 10 calendar days of discovery.

The Mississippi notary commission guide includes journal entry templates and a retention tracker to help you stay compliant with both the recording requirements and the 10-year destruction deadline.

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