The secretary of state of Colorado is the
secretary of state of the
state of Colorado in the United States. The office is one of five elected
constitutional offices in the
state. The current secretary of state is
Democrat Jena Griswold
Jena Marie Griswold (born October 2, 1984) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Colorado. A Democrat, she is the 39th Colorado Secretary of State, serving since January 8, 2019.
Early life and career
Griswold was born in T ...
.
Structure
The Secretary of State heads the Colorado Department of State, a principal department of the
Colorado state government, which is composed of four divisions:
*Business & Licensing Division: Files documents for certain
business organizations
A business entity is an entity that is formed and administered as per corporate law in order to engage in business activities, charitable work, or other activities allowable. Most often, business entities are formed to sell a product or a servi ...
and
business names; files
trade names for certain business entities; registers
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from ot ...
s, and files financing statements and notices of security interests in agricultural products pursuant to the
Uniform Commercial Code, federal
tax liens; and other miscellaneous statutory
liens; performs searches of those records; provides copies of filed documents; issues related certificates; and provides pertinent educational services. Issues
bingo/
raffle licenses and inspects facilities and operations of these games to ensure compliance with bingo/raffle laws; commissions and regulates
notaries public; registers
charitable organization
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a ...
s that solicit contributions in Colorado and their professional fundraisers; publishes the Colorado administrative rules code and register, and provides
rulemaking guidance for state agencies.
*Elections Division: Supervises elections, maintains the statewide
voter registration
In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote.
The r ...
file, verifies
initiative
In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...
petition signatures, and administers the
campaign finance
Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political a ...
laws; and serves as the filing office for
unincorporated communities and for
conflict of interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
disclosure statements.
*Administration Division: Provides management and central support services for the Department of State such as
budgeting
A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environme ...
,
accounting
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...
, and
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms includ ...
; monitors the use of the
state seal,
History and Usage of the Colorado State Seal
certifies the interest rate on appealed money judgments
Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotl ...
, files acts passed by the General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...
, and conveys information within the office to the public; plans and monitors legislation that affects the Department of State; responds to inquiries from the press and public; licenses entities that circulate petitions; and registers lobbyists.
*Information Technology Division: Supports the information systems
An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems are composed by four components: task, people ...
needs of the entire secretary of state's office. Maintains the departmental infrastructure consisting of multiple servers, personal computers, networking equipment, firewall, telephony, peripherals, and other information technology equipment to support the data and imaging needs of the department. Also supports the web presence of the secretary of state.
List of secretaries of state of Colorado
See also
* List of company registers
References
External links
Official website
{{Colorado statewide elected officials
1861 establishments in Colorado Territory