imported>Northern-Virginia-Photographer: /* Duties of the secretary of the Commonwealth */ added {{citation needed}}

2025-03-21T16:55:39Z

Duties of the secretary of the Commonwealth: added {{citation needed}}

New page

{{Short description|Government official in Virginia, United States}}
__NOTOC__{{Infobox official post
| post = Secretary
| body = the Commonwealth of Virginia
| flag = Flag of Virginia.svg
| flagcaption = [[Flag of Virginia]]
| image = Kelly Gee - State of the Commonwealth 2024 (cropped).jpg
| incumbent = [[Kelly Gee]]
| incumbentsince = September 1, 2023
| acting =
| member_of = [[Virginia Governor's Cabinet]]
| reports_to = [[Governor of Virginia]]
| seat = [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], [[Virginia]]
| appointer = Governor of Virginia
| website = {{URL|https://commonwealth.virginia.gov/}}
| insignia = Seal of Virginia.svg
| insigniacaption = [[Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia]]
}}

The '''secretary of the Commonwealth''' is a member of the [[Virginia Governor's Cabinet]]. The office is currently held by secretary [[Kelly Gee]].

==Duties of the secretary of the Commonwealth==
# Serving as the Keeper of the [[Flag and seal of Virginia|Seal of the Commonwealth]]
# Assisting the Governor in the appointment of thousands of individuals to serve on state boards and commissions
# Issuing the Commissions of [[Notary public|Notaries Public]]
# Authenticating documents
# Registering [[lobbyists]]
# Issuing the "Bluebook," officially "The Report of the Secretary of the Commonwealth," an annual publication that identifies, "(a) the boards of visitors of all public institutions, and other boards appointed by the Governor; (b) all commissions issued under appointments made by the Governor, except commissions to notaries public; (c) all departments, boards, councils, commissions, and other collegial bodies created in the executive branch of state government; and (d) such other matters as the Governor requires." – The Report as defined by the Code of Virginia
# Issuing a State Government Organization Chart
# Handling [[pardon]]s and [[Clemency|clemencies]], restoration of civil rights of former felons, [[extradition]], and [[service of process]]. Although the secretary is involved, the governor is responsible for granting [[pardons]], [[clemency]], and restorations of rights, as well as authorizing extradition. The secretary of the Commonwealth's Office handles the paperwork on behalf of the Governor.

In a unique twist of Virginia law, unlike other members of the Governor's Cabinet, the secretary of the Commonwealth does not resign immediately upon the inauguration of a new Governor, but remains in office for an additional week, serving a fixed term of four years, in order to ensure a smooth transition and ensure continuity in government.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

==History==
Although the office has evolved over the years, the job has always involved the safekeeping of the Great Seal of the [[Commonwealth of Virginia]]. Under the [[Virginia Constitution]] of 1901, the secretary of the Commonwealth was an elected post, along with the governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. Under Virginia's current constitution, enacted in 1971, and with the creation of the Governor's Cabinet during the administration of Governor [[Linwood Holton|A. Linwood Holton Jr.]], the secretary of the Commonwealth has been an appointed member of the Governor's Cabinet.

==List of secretaries of the Commonwealth (1788-present)==
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Tenure
!Party
|-
|[[John Harvie]]
|1788-1800
|
|-
|Daniel L. Hylton
|1801-1811
|
|-
|William Robertson
|1811-1820
|
|-
|John Burfoot
|1820-1821
|
|-
|William H. Richardson
|1821-1852
|
|-
|George W. Munford
|1853-1865
|
|-
|Charles H. Lewis
|1865-1867
|
|-
|John M. Herndon
|1867-1869
|
|-
|Brevet Col. [[Garrick Mallery|Garrick Mallery{{sfn|Fletcher|1895|p=5}}]]
|1869-1870
|
|-
|James McDonald
|1870-1879
|
|-
|Thomas T. Flournoy*
|1880-1881
|
|-
|William C. Elam
|1882-1883
|
|-
|Henry W. Flournoy
|1884-1893
|
|-
|Joseph T. Lawless
|1894-1900
|
|-
|[[David Q. Eggleston]]
|1901-1910
|
|-
|[[B. O. James]]
|1910-1926
|
|-
|Martin A. Hutchinson
|1927-1929
|
|-
|Peter H. Saunders
|1930-1937
|
|-
|Raymond L. Jackson
|1938-1941
|
|-
|Ralph E. Wilkins
|1942-1944
|
|-
|''Thelma Y. Gordon (acting)''
|''1945-1946''
|
|-
|Jesse W. Dillon
|1946-1948
|
|-
|M. W. Armistead
|1948
|
|-
|Thelma Y. Gordon
|1948-1952
|
|-
|Martha Bell Conway
|1952-1970
|
|-
|Cynthia Newman
|1970-1974
|
|-
|Patricia Perkinson
|1974-1978
|
|-
|[[Stanford Parris|Stanford E. Parris]]
|1978
|
|-
|[[Frederick T. Gray Jr.]]
|1978-1981
|
|-
|''Marilyn Lussen (acting)''
|''1981-1982''
|
|-
|Laurie Naismith
|1982-1985
|
|-
|H. Benson Dendy, III
|1985-1986
|
|-
|[[Sandra Bowen|Sandra D. Bowen]]
|1986-1990
|
|-
|Pamela M. Womack
|1990-1993
|
|-
|Scott Bates
|1993
|
|-
|[[Ruby Grant Martin]]
|1993-1994
|
|-
|Betsy Davis Beamer
|1994-1998
|
|-
|[[Anne Petera|Anne P. Petera]]
|1998-2002
|
|-
|Anita A. Rimler
|2002-2006
|
|-
|Daniel G. LeBlanc
|2006
|Democratic
|-
|[[Katherine Hanley]]
|2006-2010
|Democratic
|-
|[[Janet Vestal Kelly]]
|2010-2014
|Republican
|-
|[[Levar Stoney]]
|2014-2016
|Democratic
|-
|[[Kelly Thomasson]]
|2016-2022
|Democratic
|-
|[[Kay Coles James]]
|2022-2023
|Republican
|-
|[[Kelly Gee]]
|2023-present
|Republican
|}

==References==
;Notes
{{reflist}}

;Bibliography
*{{Citation |last=Fletcher |first=Robert |date=16 February 1895 |title=Brief memoirs of Colonel Garrick Mallery, U.S.A., who died October 24, 1894 |location=Washington |publisher=Judd & Detweiler |pages=3–8 |id={{Internet Archive|briefmemoirsofco00fletrich|briefmemoirsofco00fletrich}}}}

==External links==
*[http://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/ Official Website of the Secretary of the Commonwealth]
*[https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/2.2-400/ Code of Virginia regarding the Appointment and Term of Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth]
*[https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/2.2-402/ Code of Virginia regarding the Duties of the Secretary of the Commonwealth]

;Archival Records
*[http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/lva/vi00968.html A Guide to the Records of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1996–2006] at [http://www.lva.virginia.gov/ The Library of Virginia]
*[https://wayback.archive-it.org/263/*/http://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/ Archived Web Site of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, 2006–2010] part of [http://www.archive-it.org/public/collection.html?id=263 Governor Timothy Kaine Administration Collection, 2006–2010] at [http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/archival_web_collections Virginia Memory]
*[https://wayback.archive-it.org/190/*/http://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/ Archived Web Site of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, 2005–2006] part of [http://www.archive-it.org/public/collection.html?id=190 Virginia's Political Landscape, Fall 2005] at [http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/archival_web_collections Virginia Memory]

{{Virginia Cabinet leaders}}
{{U.S. State Secretaries of State}}

[[Category:Secretaries of the Commonwealth of Virginia| ]]
[[Category:State cabinet secretaries of Virginia|*Commonwealth]]

Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia - Revision history

imported>Northern-Virginia-Photographer: /* Duties of the secretary of the Commonwealth */ added {{citation needed}}