Notary & Apostille

Journal

All notarial officers are required to maintain a journal of every notarial act performed. The Notarial Officer shall retain the journal for ten years after the performance of the last notarial act chronicled, regardless of status of the Notarial Officer. A current or former Notarial Officer may transmit their journal to the secretary of state, the state records officer, or a repository approved by the secretary of state.

Each journal entry shall contain:

• The date and time of the notarial act.
• A description of the record, if any, and type of notarial act.
• The full name and address of each individual for whom the notarial act is performed.IIf identity of the individual is based on personal knowledge, a statement to that effect;
• If identity of the individual is based on satisfactory evidence, a brief description of themethod of identification and the identification credential presented, if any, including the date of issuance and expiration of any identification credential; and
• the fee, if any, charged by the notary public.
• If a notary public’s journal is lost or stolen, the notary public shall promptly notify the secretary of state.
• A notarial officer licensed to practice law in New Mexico shall maintain a journal when performing notarial acts unrelated to an established attorney-client relationship.

Electronic Journal

If the journal is maintained in an electronic format, it shall meet all the above requirements and shall be:

• Securely stored.
• Recoverable in the event of a software malfunction or computer crash.
• Tamper evident.
• Available to the public or state ethics commission in a PDF format if requested.
• If an electronic journal is turned over to the secretary of state or state records officer, it shall be provided in PDF format.

RON Journal (Remote Online Notarizations)

A notarial officer authorized to perform Remote Online Notarizations shall adhere to the journal requirements outlined above. In addition, the notarial officer must record the name of the remote online notarization system provider used for each remote online notarization.