government code 29
party signing the document to place his or her right thumbprint in the journal. If the right
thumbprint is not available, then the notary shall have the party use his or her left thumb, or
any available finger and shall so indicate in the journal. If the party signing the document is
physically unable to provide a thumbprint or fingerprint, the notary shall so indicate in the
journal and shall also provide an explanation of that physical condition. This paragraph shall
not apply to a trustee’s deed resulting from a decree of foreclosure or a nonjudicial foreclosure
pursuant to Section 2924 of the Civil Code, nor to a deed of reconveyance.
(b) If a sequential journal of official acts performed by a notary public is stolen, lost,
misplaced, destroyed, damaged, or otherwise rendered unusable as a record of notarial acts and
information, the notary public shall immediately notify the Secretary of State by certified or
registered mail or any other means of physical delivery that provides a receipt. The notification
shall include the period of the journal entries, the notary public commission number, and the
expiration date of the commission, and when applicable, a photocopy of any police report that
specifies the theft of the sequential journal of official acts.
(c) Upon written request of any member of the public, which request shall include the name
of the parties, the type of document, and the month and year in which notarized, the notary
shall supply a photostatic copy of the line item representing the requested transaction at a cost
of not more than thirty cents ($0.30) per page.
(d) The journal of notarial acts of a notary public is the exclusive property of that notary
public, and shall not be surrendered to an employer upon termination of employment, whether
or not the employer paid for the journal, or at any other time. The notary public shall not
surrender the journal to any other person, except the county clerk, pursuant to Section 8209, or
immediately, or if the journal is not present then as soon as possible, upon request to a peace
officer investigating a criminal offense who has reasonable suspicion to believe the journal
contains evidence of a criminal offense, as defined in Sections 830.1, 830.2, and 830.3 of the
Penal Code, acting in his or her official capacity and within his or her authority. If the peace
officer seizes the notary journal, he or she must have probable cause as required by the laws of
this state and the United States. A peace officer or law enforcement agency that seizes a notary
journal shall notify the Secretary of State by facsimile within 24 hours, or as soon as possible
thereafter, of the name of the notary public whose journal has been seized. The notary public
shall obtain a receipt for the journal, and shall notify the Secretary of State by certified mail
any other means of physical delivery that provides a receipt within 10 days that the journal
was relinquished to a peace officer. The notification shall include the period of the journal
entries, the commission number of the notary public, the expiration date of the commission,
and a photocopy of the receipt. The notary public shall obtain a new sequential journal. If the
journal relinquished to a peace officer is returned to the notary public and a new journal has
been obtained, the notary public shall make no new entries in the returned journal. A notary
public who is an employee shall permit inspection and copying of journal transactions by a
duly designated auditor or agent of the notary public’s employer, provided that the inspection
and copying is done in the presence of the notary public and the transactions are directly
associated with the business purposes of the employer. The notary public, upon the request
of the employer, shall regularly provide copies of all transactions that are directly associated
with the business purposes of the employer, but shall not be required to provide copies of any
transaction that is unrelated to the employer’s business. Confidentiality and safekeeping of
any copies of the journal provided to the employer shall be the responsibility of that employer.
(e) The notary public shall provide the journal for examination and copying in the presence
of the notary public upon receipt of a subpoena duces tecum or a court order, and shall certify
those copies if requested.
(f) Any applicable requirements of, or exceptions to, state and federal law shall apply to a
peace officer engaged in the search or seizure of a sequential journal.