For fellow notaries
Blog.
Posts for a Texas notary about the record book. New notes go here. This is not the signer blog, and it is not legal advice.
A credible witness is not a signature witness
One of them identifies a signer who has no satisfactory ID. The other signs because the document asks for a witness. I do not supply either person.
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When you leave a remote platform
Closing the account does not close the retention clock. The journal entry and the audio-visual recording are still yours.
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The journal and the recording are not the same record
The record of the act is kept until the tenth anniversary. The online audio-visual recording is kept at least five years. A platform's delete setting is not your compliance.
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For an online act, I have to be in Texas
The signer may be elsewhere. The online notary may not. A video call outside a compliant session, or a session I conduct from another state, is not a Texas online notarization.
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What changed for a Texas commission applied for in 2026
Senate Bill 693 applies to an application or renewal submitted on or after January 1, 2026. A missing journal can be good cause to refuse or revoke a commission. A notarization without personal appearance is its own offense.
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How the Texas Notary Record Book was built
It started as the journal I needed when the platform changed. I estimate about forty changes from that first working book to the one I use now.
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