OH Notary - Ohio Notary Exam Ohio Notary Notary Journal and Fees 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: How long must an Ohio notary retain their journal after the date of the last notarial act recorded in it?
- 1 year
- 3 years
- 5 years (Correct answer)
- 10 years
Correct answer: 5 years
Ohio law requires a notary to retain their journal for 5 years after the date of the last entry. This ensures records are available if disputes or legal questions arise about past notarizations.
Question 2: To whom does an Ohio notary's official journal legally belong?
- The notary's employer or firm
- The notary personally (Correct answer)
- The Ohio Secretary of State
- The county recorder where most acts were performed
Correct answer: The notary personally
The journal is the personal property of the notary, not the employer. If employment ends, the notary keeps the journal and remains responsible for its security and retention.
Question 3: What information about identity verification must an Ohio notary record in the journal for each notarial act?
- The full identification number from the signer's document
- The expiration date of the signer's government-issued ID
- The method or type of identification used to verify the signer's identity (Correct answer)
- Only the signer's printed name and date of birth
Correct answer: The method or type of identification used to verify the signer's identity
Ohio requires the journal to reflect how the notary verified the signer's identity—such as a driver's license, passport, or personal knowledge—not the actual ID number, which protects privacy while preserving the audit trail.
Question 4: What is the maximum fee an Ohio notary may charge for performing a remote online notarial act?
- $5
- $10
- $25 (Correct answer)
- $50
Correct answer: $25
Ohio law sets the maximum fee for a remote online notarization (RON) at $25 per act, which is higher than the $5 cap for traditional in-person acts, reflecting the additional technology and platform costs involved.
Question 5: If an Ohio notary's journal is lost or stolen, the notary is required to notify the Ohio Secretary of State within:
- 7 days
- 30 days (Correct answer)
- 60 days
- 90 days
Correct answer: 30 days
Under Ohio notary law, a notary must report a lost or stolen journal to the Secretary of State within 30 days of discovering the loss. Prompt reporting helps protect the public from potential fraud using missing journal records.
Question 6: An Ohio notary decides to charge $3 per notarial act rather than the statutory maximum. This practice is:
- Prohibited—all notaries must charge the statutory maximum fee
- Permitted—notaries may charge any amount at or below the statutory maximum (Correct answer)
- Permitted only after filing a reduced-fee schedule with the Secretary of State
- Prohibited unless the notary posts a written fee schedule in their office
Correct answer: Permitted—notaries may charge any amount at or below the statutory maximum
Ohio law establishes maximum fees, not mandatory fees. A notary is free to charge less than the maximum—or nothing at all—as long as the fee does not exceed the statutory cap for that type of notarial act.
OH Notary - Ohio Notary Exam Ohio Notary Notary Journal and Fees 1
How long must an Ohio notary retain their journal after the date of the last notarial act recorded in it?