Secretary of State of West Virginia

Elected office, West Virginia state government

Secretary of State of West Virginia

The Great Seal of the State of West Virginia

Incumbent
Kris Warner

since January 13, 2025

Style| The Honorable
Seat| West Virginia State Capitol, West Virginia Capitol Complex
Charleston, West Virginia
Term length| Four years, no term limit
Inaugural holder| Jacob Edgar Boyers
Formation| June 20, 1863
Deputy| Chuck Flannery
Salary| $95,000
Website| [1]

The secretary of state of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, including voter registration and election results reporting.

The current secretary of state is Republican Kris Warner.

## Elections

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The Office of Secretary of State is a publicly elected statewide position with elections held every four years. Elections are held in November and officers assume their duties the following January. There are no term limits for the office.

If the office of secretary of state becomes vacant, it is the duty of the governor to fill the position by appointment. The appointee serves until a new commissioner is elected.

Qualifications for being elected to the office are that one is a citizen entitled to vote, who has been a resident of West Virginia for at least the preceding 5 years.

## Duties

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The West Virginia secretary of state is the smallest constitutional office in the state – physically, fiscally, and in terms of the number of staff.[1] The duties of the office, though, are extensive. The primary responsibility of the secretary is to serve as the chief election officer. The "work horse" of the office is the business and licensing division, which registers, licenses, and keeps a database of all businesses, corporations, charities, notaries public, private investigators, and sports agents operating within West Virginia. The secretary also files public notices of all state agency meetings, sends official documents on behalf of the governor, and certifies gubernatorial proclamations by affixing the state seal and their signature to official documents.[1]

## Organization

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The Secretary of State's Office is organized as follows:

* The Administrative Law Division is the official archive and clearinghouse for agency rules, notices, orders, decisions and other procedural documents. This division publishes the state's gazette, the West Virginia Register.
* The Business Organizations Division charters and maintains records for business entities and registers trademarks and service marks. This division also licenses lending institutions[2] and purchasers of future payments.[3]
* The Charities Division registers and regulates charitable organizations and professional fundraisers operating within the state.
* The Elections Division administers elections, implements state and federal election laws, and regulates campaign finance.
* The Executive Records Division maintains the records of official acts of the Governor, enrolled bills, surety bonds, oaths of office of state officials, as well as the records of some state agencies.
* The Notary Public Section licenses and monitors notaries public.
* The UCC Section files liens pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code.

The secretary of state also serves as registered agents for service of process for certain types of defendants in lawsuits.[4]

## List of West Virginia secretaries of state

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Below is a list of West Virginia's secretaries of state since 1863:

Image  | Name  | Party  | Term

|
|
|

| Jacob Boyers | Republican | 1863–1865
| Granville D. Hall | Republican | 1865–1867
| John S. Witcher | Republican | 1867–1869
| James M. Pipes | Republican | 1869–1871
| John M. Phelps | Republican | 1871–1873
| Charles Hedrick | Democratic | 1873–1877
| Sobieski Brady | Democratic | 1877–1881
| Randolph Stalnaker | Democratic | 1881–1885
| Henry S. Walker | Democratic | 1885–1890
| William A. Ohley*  | Democratic | 1890–1893
| William E. Chilton | Democratic | 1893–1897
| William Dawson | Republican | 1897–1905
| Charles Swisher | Republican | 1905–1909
| Stuart F. Reed | Republican | 1909–1917
| Houston G. Young | Republican | 1917–1925
| George W. Sharp | Republican | 1925–1933
| William O'Brien | Democratic | 1933–1948
| Daniel Pitt O'Brien*  | Democratic | 1948–1957
| Helen F. Holt | Republican | 1957–1958
| Joe F. Burdett*  | Democratic | 1958–1965
| Robert Bailey | Democratic | 1965–1969
| Jay Rockefeller | Democratic | 1969–1973
| Hike Heiskell | Republican | 1973–1975
| James R. McCartney*  | Republican | 1975–1977
| A. James Manchin | Democratic | 1977–1985
| Ken Hechler | Democratic | 1985–2001
| Joe Manchin | Democratic | 2001–2005
| Betty Ireland | Republican | 2005–2009
| Natalie Tennant | Democratic | 2009–2017
| Mac Warner | Republican | 2017–2025
| Kris Warner | Republican | 2025–present

*appointed or elected to fill unexpired term

## See also

[edit]

* List of company registers

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b West Virginia Secretary of State "Tennant talks elections, office duties with state Auditor Gainer (Video included)," Retrieved June 20, 2011
2. ^ Credit Service Organization licensing, from the WV Secretary of State
3. ^ Licensing of purchasers of future payments
4. ^ Service of Process information

## External links

[edit]

* Official homepage of the West Virginia Secretary of State

* v
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* e

State of West Virginia

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West Virginia portal

* v
* t
* e

Secretaries of state in the United States

▌Wes Allen (R)

▌Nancy Dahlstrom (R)

▌Adrian Fontes (D)

▌Cole Jester (R)

▌Shirley Weber (D)

▌Jena Griswold (D)

▌Stephanie Thomas (D)

▌Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez (D)

▌Cord Byrd (R)

▌Brad Raffensperger (R)

▌Sylvia Luke (D)

▌Phil McGrane (R)

▌Alexi Giannoulias (D)

▌Diego Morales (R)

▌Paul Pate (R)

▌Scott Schwab (R)

▌Michael Adams (R)

▌Nancy Landry (R)

▌Shenna Bellows (D)

▌Susan C. Lee (D)

▌William F. Galvin (D)

▌Jocelyn Benson (D)

▌Steve Simon (DFL)

▌Michael Watson (R)

▌Denny Hoskins (R)

▌Christi Jacobsen (R)

▌Bob Evnen (R)

▌Cisco Aguilar (D)

▌David Scanlan (R)

▌Tahesha Way (D)

▌Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D)

▌Walter T. Mosley (D)

▌Elaine Marshall (D)

▌Michael Howe (R)

▌Frank LaRose (R)

▌Josh Cockroft (R)

▌Tobias Read (D)

▌Al Schmidt (R)

▌Gregg Amore (D)

▌Mark Hammond (R)

▌Monae Johnson (R)

▌Tre Hargett (R)

▌Jane Nelson (R)

▌Deidre Henderson (R)

▌Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D)

▌Kelly Gee (R)

▌Steve Hobbs (D)

▌Kris Warner (R)

▌Sarah Godlewski (D)

▌Chuck Gray (R)

Federal districts:

▌Kimberly A. Bassett (D)

Territories:

▌Pulu Ae Ae Jr. (R)

▌Josh Tenorio (D)

▌Dennis Mendiola (R)

▌Rosachely Rivera (PNP/D)

▌Tregenza Roach (D)

Political party affiliations
29 ▌Republican (28 states, 1 territory)
25 ▌Democratic (22 states, 2 territories, 1 district)
1 ▌Independent (1 territory)
1 ▌New Progressive (1 territory)
Italics indicate no secretary of state in this state, closest equivalent listed
An asterisk (*) indicates that the officeholder is serving in an acting capacity.

* v
* t
* e

Secretaries of state of West Virginia

* Boyers
* Hall
* Witcher
* Pipes
* Phelps
* Hedrick
* Brady
* Stalnaker
* Walker
* Ohley
* Chilton
* Dawson
* Swisher
* Reed
* Young
* Sharp
* W. O'Brien
* D. O'Brien
* Holt
* Burdett
* Bailey
* Rockefeller
* Heiskell
* McCartney
* A. J. Manchin
* Hechler
* J. Manchin
* Ireland
* Tennant
* M. Warner
* K. Warner

* v
* t
* e

West Virginia statewide elected officials

* Governor
* Secretary of State
* Attorney General
* Treasurer
* Auditor
* Commissioner of Agriculture

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