Virginia Secretary of State

Virginia Secretary of State
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$189,741
2024 FY Budget:	$2,823,218
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Code of Virginia, Title 2.2, Chapter 4
Selection Method:	Appointed by Governor
Current Officeholder
Virginia Secretary of State Kelly Gee Republican Party Assumed office: February 8, 2024
Other Virginia Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission

The Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth is an appointed position in the Virginia state government. The secretary serves as the ex officio secretary to the Governor of Virginia and is in charge of keeping the seals of the Commonwealth and maintaining all official state records.

Virginia has a Republican triplex. The Republican Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney general.

Current officeholder

The current Virginia Secretary of State is Kelly Gee (R). Gee assumed office in 2024.

Authority

Title 2.2, Chapter 4 of the Code of Virginia establishes the position of Secretary of the Commonwealth:

"The Secretary of the Commonwealth, who shall be ex officio Secretary to the Governor, shall be in direct charge of the division of records."

Qualifications

The state constitution specifies that requirements for this office will be prescribed by law.

Appointments

Virginia state government organizational chart

Title 2.2, Chapter 4 of the Code of Virginia sets the term of the secretary. The position shall be filled by gubernatorial appointment, with confirmation by the state assembly "for a term commencing on the Monday after the third Wednesday in January" after the governor's inauguration. The secretary serves a term of four years.

Vacancies

In the event of a vacancy in the office of secretary, state code requires the governor to appoint a successor, subject to confirmation from the state assembly, to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.

Duties

As of January 2021, the secretary's website listed the following responsibilities:

“

Appointments Facilitate appointments to state boards and commissions Authentications Authenticate documents for foreign use Executive Clemency Process and review pardon petitions Extraditions Manage extradition requests Notary Public Commissioning of Notaries Public in Virginia Restoration of Rights Manage the restoration of civil rights process Service of Process Assist Virginians who have incurred financial loss and are pursuing civil remedies through the legal system Virginia Indians Liaison to Virginia's 11 state recognized Indian tribes Keeper of the Seal Authorize the use of the state seal State Org Chart / Bluebook Publish the state organizational chart and yearly report of all appointments to state government Constituent Services Facilitates communication with the Governor

”

Divisions

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Virginia Secretary of State has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

State budget

See also: Virginia state budget and finances

The budget for the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office in Fiscal Year 2024 was $2,823,218.

Compensation

See also: Compensation of state executive officers

See statutes: VA Code § 2.2-201 (2014)

The secretary is entitled to receive a fixed annual salary in accordance with Title 2, Chapter 2 of the Virginia Code (§ 2.2-201).

2022

In 2022, the officer's salary was $189,741, according to the Council of State Governments.

2021

In 2021, the secretary received a salary of $176,730, according to the Council of State Governments.

2020

In 2020, the secretary received a salary of $176,730, according to the Council of State Governments.

2019

In 2019, the secretary received a salary of $172,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2018

In 2018, the secretary received a salary of $163,735 according to the Council of State Governments.

2017

In 2017, the secretary received a salary of $158,966 according to the Council of State Governments.

2016

In 2016, the secretary received a salary of $158,966 according to the Council of State Governments.

2015

In 2015, the secretary received a salary of $155,849 according to the Council of State Governments.

2014

In 2014, the secretary was paid an estimated $152,793 according to the Council of State Governments.

2013

In 2013, the secretary was paid an estimated $152,793 according to the Council of State Governments.

2011

In 2011, the secretary was paid an estimated $152,793 according to the Council of State Governments.

Historical officeholders

There have been 66 Virginia Secretaries of the Commonwealth since 1607.

List of Officeholders from 1607-Present
#	Name	Tenure	Party
1	Gabriel Archer, Recorder	1607-1609
2	William Strachey	1610-1611
3	Ralph Hamor, Jr	1611-1614
4	John Rolfe	1614-1619
5	John Pory	1619-1621
6	Christopher Davison	1621-1623
7	William Claiborne	1625-1635
8	Richard Kemp	1635-1649
9	Richard Lee	1649-1652
10	William Claiborne	1652-1660
11	Thomas Ludwell	1661-1678
12	Philip Ludwell	1678
13	Daniel Parke	1678-1679
14	Nicholas Spencer	1679-1689
15	William Cole	1689-1692
16	Christopher Robinson	1692-1693
17	Ralph Wormeley	1693-1701
18	Edmund Jennings	1702-1712
19	William Cocke	1712-1720
20	Edmund Jennings	1720-1722
21	John Carter	1712-1743
22	Thomas Nelson	1743-1788
23	John Harvie	1788-1800
24	Daniel L. Hylton	1801-1811
25	William Robertson	1811-1820
26	John Burfoot	1820-1821
27	William H. Richardson	1821-1852
28	George W. Munford	1853-1865
29	Charles H. Lewis	1865-1867
30	John M. Herndon	1867-1869
31	Brevet Col. Garrick Mallery	1869-1870
32	James McDonald	1870-1879
33	Thomas T. Flournoy*	1880-1881
34	William C. Elam	1882-1883
35	Henry W. Flournoy	1884-1893
36	Joseph T. Lawless	1894-1900
37	David Q. Eggleston	1901-1910
38	B. O. Jones	1910-1926
39	Martin A. Hutchinson	1927-1929
40	Peter H. Saunders	1930-1937
41	Raymond L. Jackson	1938-1941
42	Ralph E. Wilkins	1942-1944
43	Thelma Y. Gordon, acting	1945-1946
44	Jesse W. Dillon	1946-1948
45	M. W. Armistead	1948
46	Thelma Y. Gordon	1948-1952
47	Martha Bell Conway	1952-1970
48	Cynthia Newman	1970-1974
49	Patricia Perkinson	1974-1978
50	Stanford E. Parris	1978
51	Frederick T. Gray, Jr	1978-1981
52	Marilyn Lussen, acting	1981-1982
53	Laurie Naismith	1982-1985
54	H. Benson Dendy, III	1985-1986
55	Sandra D. Bowen	1986-1990
56	Pamela M. Womack	1990-1993
57	Scott Bates	1993
58	Penelope Anderson	1993-1994
59	Betsy Davis Beamer	1994-1998
60	Anne P. Petera	1998-2002
61	Anita A. Rimler	2002-2006
62	Daniel G. LeBlanc	2006	Democratic
63	Katherine Hanley	2006-2010	Democratic
64	Janet Vestal Kelly	2010-2014	Republican
65	Levar Stoney	2014-2016	Democratic
66	Kelly Thomasson	2016-2022	Democratic
66	Kay Coles James	2022-2023	Republican

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Virginia Secretary of Commonwealth. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Virginia Secretary of State - Google News

Contact information

Physical Address:
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
1111 East Broad Street, 4th Floor
Richmond, Virginia 23219

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 2454
Richmond, VA 23218

Phone: (804) 786-2441 Fax: (804) 786-9549

External links

Suggest a link

• Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth