View source for Secretary of State of Delaware


{{Infobox official post
| post                     = Secretary of State
| body                     = Delaware
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| incumbent                = [[Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez]]
| acting                   = 
| incumbentsince           = January 28, 2025
| department               = Department of State
| style                    = 
| type                     = Secretary of State
| status                   = 
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| precursor                = 
| formation                = 1778
| first                    = James Booth Sr.
| last                     = 
| abolished                = 
| succession               = [[Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States#Delaware|Second]]
| unofficial_names         = 
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}}

The '''secretary of state of Delaware''' is the head of the Department of State of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Delaware]]. The department is in charge of a wide variety of public and governmental services, and is divided into the following divisions:
{{div col}}
*Delaware Division of Libraries
*Delaware Division of the Arts
*Delaware Public Archives
*Delaware State Banking Commissioner
*Conference Centers([https://web.archive.org/web/20080803084348/http://history.delaware.gov/conf_centers/bv/ Buena Vista]/[https://web.archive.org/web/20081024065208/http://history.delaware.gov/conf_centers/bh/ Belmont Hall])
*Division of Corporations(handles business records, including [[lien]] statements under the [[Uniform Commercial Code]])
*Government Information Center
*Delaware Heritage Commission
*Historical & Cultural Affairs
*Human Relations
*Merit Employee Relations Board
*Notaries Public
*Delaware Board of Pardons
*Professional Regulation
*Delaware Public Advocate
*Public Employment Relations Board
*Delaware Public Integrity Commission
*Delaware Public Service Commission
*Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs
*Delaware Veterans Home
*Delaware Commission for Women
{{div col end}}

Some of the most important responsibilities of the secretary of state involve registry of businesses and [[corporation]]s, monitoring banks, and other commercial activities. However, unlike many other [[Secretary of State (U.S. state government)|U.S. secretaries of state]], the Delaware secretary of state is not in charge of administering elections in Delaware. The [http://elections.delaware.gov/aboutagency.shtml Delaware Department of Elections] is a separate agency from the Department of State.

==Secretaries of state (years served in office)==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
*[[James Booth Sr.]] (1778–1799)
*Abraham Ridgely (1799–1802)
*William B. Shields (1802)
*[[John Fisher (Delaware judge)|John Fisher]] (1802–1805, 1811–1812)
*William Hazzard (1805)
*Peter Robinson (1805–1808, 1814–1817, 1822–1823)
*William Warner (1808)
*[[Thomas Clayton]] (1808–1810)
*John Barratt (1810–1811)
*[[Willard Hall]] (1812–1814, 1821–1822)
*[[Henry M. Ridgely]] (1817–1821, 1824–1826)
*Henry H. Wells (1823–1824)
*[[John M. Clayton]] (1826–1828)
*[[Samuel Maxwell Harrington]] (1828–1830)
*[[Caleb S. Layton]] (1830–1833, 1836)
*James Rogers (1833–1835)
*[[William Hemphill Jones]] (1835–1836)
*John Brinkloe (1836)
*Robert Frame (1836–1837)
*Charles Marim (1837–1841)
*[[John W. Houston]] (1841–1845)
*[[John Wales]] (1845–1846)
*[[George P. Fisher]] (1846–1847)
*[[Daniel Moore Bates]](1847–1851)
*Alfred P. Robinson (1851–1855)
*[[James R. Lofland]] (1855–1859)
*Edward Ridgely (1859–1863)
*[[Nathaniel B. Smithers]] (1863, 1895)
*[[Samuel M. Harrington Jr.]] (1863–1865)
*Custis W. Wright (1865–1871)
*John H. Paynter (1871–1875)
*[[Ignatius Cooper Grubb]] (1875–1879)
*James L. Wolcott (1879–1883)
*William R. Causey (1883–1887)
*John P. Saulsbury (1887–1889)
*John F. Saulsbury (1889–1891)
*David T. Marvel (1891–1893)
*John D. Hawkins (1893–1895)
*J. Harvey Whiteman (1895–1897)
*[[William H. Boyce]] (1897)
*[[James H. Hughes]] (1897–1901)
*[[Caleb R. Layton]] (1901–1905)
*[[Joseph L. Cahall]] (1905–1909)
*[[Daniel O. Hastings]] (1909)
*William T. Smithers (1909–1911)
*Charles S. Richards (1911–1913)
*Thomas W. Miller (1913–1915)
*George H. Hall ((1915–1917)
*Everett C. Johnson (1917–1921)
*Alden R. Benson (1921–1925)
*William G. Taylor (1925)
*[[Fannie S. Herrington]] (1925–1926)
*Sylvester D. Townsend Jr. (1926–1927)
*Charles H. Grantland (1927–1934)
*Walter Dent Smith ((1934–1937)
*[[Charles L. Terry Jr.]] (1937–1938)
*[[Josiah Marvel Jr.]](1938–1941)
*[[Earle D. Willey]] (1941–1942)
*William J. Storey (1942–1949)
*Harris B. McDowell Jr. (1949–1953)
*John N. McDowell (1953–1958)
*George J. Schultz (1958–1961)
*Elisha C. Dukes (1961–1969)
*Eugene Bunting (1969–1971)
*Walton H. Simpson (1971–1973)
*Robert H. Reed (1973–1977)
*Glenn C. Kenton (1977–1985)
*Michael E. Harkins (1985–1991)
*[[Michael Ratchford (politician)|Michael Ratchford]] (1992)
*[[William T. Quillen]] (1993–1994)
*[[Edward J. Freel]] (1994–2001)
*[[Harriet Smith Windsor]] (2001–2009)
*[[Jeffrey W. Bullock]] (2009–2025)
*[[Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez]] (2025–present){{div col end}}

==See also==
* [[List of company registers]]

==External links==
*[http://sos.delaware.gov/ Delaware Department of State Official Homepage]
*[http://sos.delaware.gov/divisions.shtml Explanation of the duties of each of the Department's divisions]
*[http://archives.delaware.gov/collections/aghist/1325.shtml History of the Delaware Department of State]


{{Delaware statewide elected officials}}
{{U.S. State Secretaries of State}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:State secretaries of state of the United States]]