Journal of notarial acts: Duty to maintain; contents; verification based upon credible witness; copy of entry; storage; period of retention; report of loss or theft; exceptions.
Nev. Rev. Stat. § 240.120
in effect1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, each notary public shall keep a journal in his or her office in which the notary public shall enter for each notarial act performed, at the time the act is performed:
(a) The fees charged, if any;
(b) The title of the document;
(c) The date on which the notary public performed the act;
(d) Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, the name and signature of the person whose signature is being notarized;
(e) Subject to the provisions of subsection 4, a description of the evidence used by the notary public to verify the identification of the person whose signature is being notarized;
(f) An indication of whether the notary public administered an oath; and
(g) The type of certificate used to evidence the notarial act, as required pursuant to NRS 240.1655 .
2. A notary public may make one entry in the journal which documents more than one notarial act if the notarial acts documented are performed:
(a) For the same person and at the same time; and
(b) On one document or on similar documents.
3. When performing a notarial act for a person, a notary public need not require the person to sign the journal if:
(a) The notary public has performed a notarial act for the person within the previous 6 months;
(b) The notary public has personal knowledge of the identity of the person; and
(c) The person is an employer or coworker of the notary public and the notarial act relates to a transaction performed in the ordinary course of the persons business.
4. If, pursuant to subsection 3, a notary public does not require a person to sign the journal, the notary public shall enter known personally as the description required to be entered into the journal pursuant to paragraph (e) of subsection 1.
5. If the notary verifies the identification of the person whose signature is being notarized on the basis of a credible witness, the notary public shall:
(a) Require the witness to sign the journal in the space provided for the description of the evidence used; and
(b) Make a notation in the journal that the witness is a credible witness.
6. The journal must:
(a) Be open to public inspection.
(b) Be in a bound volume with preprinted page numbers.
7. A notary public shall, upon request and payment of the fee set forth in NRS 240.100 , provide a certified copy of an entry in his or her journal.
8. A notary public shall keep his or her journal in a secure location during any period in which the notary public is not making an entry or notation in the journal pursuant to this section.
9. A notary public shall retain each journal that the notary public has kept pursuant to this section until 7 years after the date on which he or she ceases to be a notary public.
10. A notary public shall file a report with the Secretary of State and the appropriate law enforcement agency if the journal of the notary public is lost or stolen.
11. The provisions of this section do not apply to a person who is authorized to perform a notarial act pursuant to paragraph (b), (c), (d) or (e) of subsection 1 of NRS 240.1635 .
Source: NV Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-240.htmlFetched: 10/4/2026