Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginia. Office of the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs. Records, 2010-2021 (bulk 2018-2021). Accession 53530. State government records, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.

Acquisition Information

Transferred on 6 January 2022 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 On 31 January 2002, Governor Warner issued Executive Order 7, also known as the Secure Virginia Initiative, which rescinded Gilmore's Virginia Preparedness and Security Panel.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).

Carlos Hopkins served as Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs from 2017-2022.

Scope and Content

Records, 2010-2021 (bulk 2018-2021), created and maintained by Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, Carlos Hopkins (2017-2022), during the administration of Governor Ralph Northam (2018-2022). The records include correspondence, memorandum, newsclippings, presentations, reports, speeches, studies, and other working papers.

Topics include 5G readiness; COVID-19; programs for veterans including suicide prevention and mental health; help for high school aged military dependents with autism (Project SEARCH); Southwest Veterans Coalition; runway at Norfolk International Airport for the U.S. Navy; and a meeting with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (2010), among others.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.