Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginia. Office of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security. Records, 2005-2012, bulk 2010-2011. Accession 51438. State Records Collection. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.

Acquisition Information

Transferred from Suzanne Trachy, Office of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security on 9 January 2014.

Processing Information

The original arrangement of records by subject and series file names was respected and maintained. Processing archivist imposed an alphabetical order given lack of useful one.

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 2014.

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 On 31 January 2002, Governor Warner issued Executive Order 7, also known as the Secure Virginia Initiative, which rescinded Gilmore's Virginia Preparedness and Security Panel.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 2014, with Homeland Security transferred to the Secretary of Public Safety, (renamed Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security).

Scope and Content

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security records consist of two boxes divided into fourteen series. Series are listed below and they reflect the names and the defined grouping records upon arrival to the archives at the Library of Virginia. These records document the work of Secretary Terrie L. Suit and the Office of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security during Governor Robert F. McDonnell's gubernatorial term. The bulk of the records can relate to base closings, campus security, hurricane preparedness, interoperability, the National Capital Region, and various office projects.

Some of the key initiatives, advisory boards, and task forces during Suit's tenure included the standardization of emergency radio communication, critical infrastructure protection, commonwealth interoperability and preparedness against terrorist attacks, and campus preparedness. Included among the various types of records are agendas, correspondence, minutes, newsletters, memoranda, programs, reports, and surveys. Researchers should search across series as some issues, offices, and subjects are cross referenced or exist in various series.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Related Material

The Governor Robert F. McDonnell Administration Web Archive Collection, 2010-2014 contains archived versions of websites for the Governor's Office, his initiative sites, and the sites of his cabinet secretaries, including the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security and Secretary of Public Safety .

The Records of the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Collection includes material from the office during Gov. Robert F. McDonnell's tenure.

The Records of Governor Robert F. McDonnell's Secretary of Transportation Collection

The Records of Governor Robert F. McDonnell's Secretary of Administration Collection