§ 32-3-118 — Audiovisual recordings; journal; security

(a) If a notarial act is performed using an electronic
notarization system or other form of communication technology,
the notarial officer shall make an audiovisual recording of the
entire communication.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section,
a notarial officer shall keep sole possession of an audiovisual
recording.
(c) An audiovisual recording may be examined and copied by
a law enforcement officer in the course of an official
investigation, subpoenaed by court order or surrendered at the
direction of the secretary of state.
(d) A notary public shall maintain one (1) or more
journals in which the notary public chronicles all notarial acts
that the notary public performs.
(e) A journal may be created on a tangible medium or in an
electronic format to chronicle all notarial acts, whether those
notarial acts are performed regarding tangible or electronic
records.
(f) A notary public is responsible for the security of the
notary public's journal. A notary public shall keep the journal
and all other notarial records in a secure area under the sole
control of the officer and surrender or destroy them only as
authorized by statute, rule, court order or at the direction of
the secretary of state.
(g) A notary public shall not allow the notary public's
journal to be used by any other notarial officer and shall not
surrender the journal to an employer upon termination of
employment without the approval of the secretary of state. An
employer may retain a copy of the journal of an employee who is
a notary public after the officer's employment ceases if the
journal contains records of notarial acts performed within the
scope of the officer's employment.
(h) A journal may be examined and copied by a law
enforcement officer in the course of an official investigation,
if subpoenaed by court order or at the direction of the
secretary of state.
(j) A notary public shall promptly notify the secretary of
state, in a manner required by the secretary of state, upon
discovering that the notary public's journal is lost or stolen.
(k) On the death or adjudication of incompetency of a
current or former notary public, the notary public's personal
representative or guardian or any other person knowingly in
possession of the notary public's journal or audiovisual
recordings may transmit all journals and recordings to the
secretary of state.