Current as of 2026-07-01
The short answer
Yes. Missouri requires every notary to keep a chronological journal of notarial acts. The rule became mandatory on August 28, 2020, and lives in section 486.700 RSMo. If you are working from an older summary, it may say Missouri has no journal requirement; that changed in 2020.
It has to be a bound book
Section 486.700 is specific about format: a permanently bound book with numbered pages. This applies even if you also hold a separate registration as an electronic or remote online notary. Electronic notaries keep an additional electronic journal for their RON-specific acts, but that does not replace the bound paper journal required for in-person work. If you do both kinds of notarization, you keep both records.
What each entry generally covers
Missouri's journal-contents section calls for the standard set of facts: the date and time of the act, the type of act performed, the type of document, the signer's name and address, the fee charged, and how you identified the signer. Some detail here, including the exact thumbprint rule and the full list of forbidden fields, comes from the state's official Notary Handbook rather than the statute text itself. Treat the handbook as the fuller reference and confirm the current edition before you rely on the specifics.
How long you keep it, and where it goes
The bound journal is kept for at least 10 years from the date of the last entry. Missouri's handbook describes a surrender process when a commission ends or a notary dies, delivering the journal to the Secretary of State within a set window. Confirm the current deadline and process with the Secretary of State's office directly, since this detail is administrative guidance rather than statute text.
How Notary Journal handles all of this
Notary Journal builds the Missouri entry around the fields section 486.700 and the state handbook ask for, and keeps every entry 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. Missouri notary law can change. Confirm the current requirements with the Missouri Secretary of State before you rely on anything here.