Current as of 2026-07-01
The short answer
Yes. Illinois requires a journal for every commissioned notary. This is a relatively recent change: Illinois moved from a recommended practice to a hard requirement in 2023 under the current Illinois Notary Public Act, with the record-keeping detail set out in the Secretary of State's administrative rules.
If you are working from an older guide or a summary written before 2023, it likely says Illinois has no journal mandate. That is out of date.
What every entry must contain
The rule asks for the standard set of facts about each act:
- The date and time of each official act.
- The type of notarial act performed.
- The type of document notarized.
- The signer's name and address.
- How you identified the signer.
- The fee you charged, including a "no fee" entry when you waived it.
What the journal cannot contain
Illinois bars recording a signer's government-assigned identification number in the journal. If you identified someone by driver's license or state ID, log the fact that you used ID and the type of document, not the number itself. This mirrors the approach several other states have taken to keep journals from becoming a target for identity theft if the book is lost or stolen.
How long you keep it
Illinois splits retention by format. A paper journal is kept for 5 years. An electronic journal is kept for 7 years. If you keep both a paper book for in-person acts and an electronic record for remote ones, track each on its own clock.
How Notary Journal handles all of this
Notary Journal builds the Illinois entry to these rules. The form shows the fields the Act asks for, hard-blocks the ID-number field, and records a "no fee" entry when you waive the fee. Every entry is numbered and append-only, so the sequence holds up under review.
When you need a copy, it exports a PDF or CSV. The whole thing runs on your device, offline, with no account and no server. Your record stays yours.
A note on what this is
This page is a general reference, not legal advice. Illinois notary law changed recently and can change again. Confirm the current requirements with the Illinois Secretary of State before you rely on anything here.