Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Privacy protected and confidential information is restricted from public access for 75 years per Code of Virginia 42.1-78. Restricted records in this collection have been sealed but not removed from the collection. Types of sealed information may include, but are not limited to: medical and personal records.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginia. Office of the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs. Records, 2013-2017. Accession 52173. State government records, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.

Acquisition Information

Transferred on 9 January 2018 from the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, State Capitol Building, 3rd Floor, Richmond, VA 23219.

Biographical/Historical Information

In 2010 Governor Robert F. McDonnell initiated legislative action which changed and re-organized the former Office of Commonwealth Preparedness (OCP) into the Office of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security (OVAHS). With this legislation the Department of Veterans Services (DVS) was moved from the Office of Public Safety to the Office of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security along with the Virginia War Memorial. In April of 2011 Terrie L. Suit was appointed by Governor McDonnell to the position of Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security after previously serving as Assistant to the Governor for Commonwealth Preparedness. James W. Hopper was appointed Deputy Secretary. She stepped down from the position on September 22nd, 2013 after being selected as the Chief Executive Office of the Virginia Association of REALTORS (VAR). Hopper, a previous staff member of McDonnell's tenure as Attorney General from 2006-2009 took over the Secretary's position until January 2013.

The Office of Commonwealth Preparedness had originated from Governor James Gilmore's Virginia Preparedness and Security Panel created after the September 11th terrorist attacks to better prevent and respond to such attacks in Virginia. Shortly thereafter, Governor-elect Mark R. Warner named John H. Hager to the newly created position of assistant to the governor for commonwealth preparedness, now a cabinet-level position, on 28 December 2001. Hager served as lieutenant governor under Governor James Gilmore and was a member of the Virginia Preparedness and Security Panel. On 31 January 2002, Governor Warner issued Executive Order 7, also known as the Secure Virginia Initiative, which rescinded Gilmore's Virginia Preparedness and Security Panel. Executive Order 7 also created the Secure Virginia Panel to review, evaluate, and make recommendations relating to emergency preparedness for the Commonwealth. The Secure Virginia Panel, which became the Secure Commonwealth Panel under Executive Order 69, was to consist of twenty members, later increased to twenty-eight members, under the Assistant to the Governor for Commonwealth Preparedness as chairman. The Office of Commonwealth Preparedness and the Secure Commonwealth Panel were later codified under 2.2-304 through 2.2-306 of the Code of Virginia.

The Office of Commonwealth Preparedness was created with the purpose of developing a coordinated security and preparedness strategy and implementation plan. The Assistant to the Governor for Commonwealth Preparedness, who is appointed by the governor for a term of four years, is responsible for the general management of the Office. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, was later renamed Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs by Governor Terry McAuliffe in 2013, with Homeland Security transferred to the Secretary of Public Safety, (renamed Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security).

Admiral John C. Harvey, Jr., served as Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs from 2013-2017. Carlos Hopkins served as Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs from 2017-2022.

Scope and Content

Records, 2013-2017, created and maintained by Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, Admiral John C. Harvey, Jr. (2014-2017) and Carlos Hopkins (2017-2022), during the administration of Governor Terry McAuliffe (2014-2018). The records include correspondence, memorandum, newsclippings, presentations, reports, studies, and other working papers.

Topics include payments from the Virginia Military Strategic Response Funds for improvements to localities and Forts; cyber security issues; environmental impacts statements; programs for veterans including suicide prevention and mental health; Ft. Monroe Authority; Naval Station Norfolk Centennial celebration; constituent correspondence; grants relating to BRAC; and educational opportunities for military children.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.