Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Records of the Virginia Secretary of Commonwealth, 2014-2017. Accession 52901. State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Transferred on 6 December 2019 by the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1111 East Broad Street, 4th Floor, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Historical Information

The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth has evolved from early colonial times when there existed a Secretary of the Colony. Thomas Nelson held the position of the first Secretary of Virginia in 1776. Early Secretaries were elected by the public. An Act of the General Assembly in 1920 changed the election to a joint vote of the General Assembly. In a 1930 Act the duties of the Secretary were redefined with the Secretary of the Commonwealth serving as the ex officio secretary of the Governor, as custodian of many official State records, and as keeper of the Greater and Lesser Seals of the Commonwealth. The office of the Secretary has gradually acquired other functions, such as: service of out-of-state civil process; appointment and regulation of notaries public; and registration and oversight of lobbyists. The Office became a gubernatorial appointment subsequent to a 1958 Act of the Assembly. The Secretary of the Commonwealth is under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office. The Secretary is appointed by the Governor for a term of four years. Currently the Secretary of the Commonwealth is responsible for gubernatorial appointments, clemency and restoration of civil rights requests and extraditions. Additional activities include: serving as ex officio Secretary to the Governor; serving as keeper of the seals of the Commonwealth; compiling and publishing the annual Blue Book; commissioning and regulating notary publics, including the publication of a Notary Handbook and conduct of disciplinary hearings; promulgating the lobbying disclosure requirements, registration of lobbyists, and recording of lobbying reports; servicing the civil process of out-of-state defendants and other parties; and authenticating and certifying the records of the courts and of any state agency.

Scope and Content

Records, 2014-2017, of the Secretary of the Commonwealth are arranged alphabetically by folder title and housed in three boxes. The bulk of the collection are Agency Head Executive Agreements, although some correspondence, gold sheets, and invitations are also included. The Agency Head Executive Agreement was an agreement and partnership between Governor Terry McAuliffe, cabinet secretaries and agency heads. It represented the commitment of agency leadership to assist the Governor in achieving his priorities and the Governor's commitment to support agency leadership in carrying out this agreement. Each agreement contains statement of purpose, a list of priorities, results, performance measures, and action plans. Included are copies of the agreements along with follow up meetings, notes, and lists of accomplishments, 2016-2017.

Additional Executive agreements can be found in Office of the Governor. Executive Office. Agency Head Executive Agreements of Governor Terry McAuliffe, 2014, LVA Accession 52178.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.