The secretary of state of Delaware is the head of the Department of State of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
. The department is in charge of a wide variety of public and governmental services, and is divided into the following divisions:
*Delaware Division of Libraries
*Delaware Division of the Arts
*Delaware Public Archives
*Delaware State Banking Commissioner
*Conference Center
Buena VistaBelmont Hall
*Division of Corporations(handles business records, including lien
A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...
statements under the Uniform Commercial Code
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through U ...
)
*Government Information Center
*Delaware Heritage Commission
*Historical & Cultural Affairs
*Human Relations
*Merit Employee Relations Board
*Notaries Public
*Delaware Board of Pardons
*Professional Regulation
*Delaware Public Advocate
*Public Employment Relations Board
*Delaware Public Integrity Commission
*Delaware Public Service Commission
*Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs
*Delaware Veterans Home
*Delaware Commission for Women
Some of the most important responsibilities of the secretary of state involve registry of businesses and corporation
A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...
s, monitoring banks, and other commercial activities. However, unlike many other U.S. secretaries of state, the Delaware secretary of state is not in charge of administering elections in Delaware. Th
Delaware Department of Elections
is a separate agency from the Department of State.
Secretaries of state (years served in office)
* James Booth Sr. (1778–1799)
*Abraham Ridgely (1799–1802)
*William B. Shields (1802)
*John Fisher
John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Rochester from 1504 to 1535 and as chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is honoured as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Chu ...
(1802–1805, 1811–1812)
*William Hazzard (1805)
*Peter Robinson (1805–1808, 1814–1817, 1822–1823)
*William Warner (1808)
* Thomas Clayton (1808–1810)
*John Barratt (1810–1811)
* Willard Hall (1812–1814, 1821–1822)
* Henry M. Ridgely (1817–1821, 1824–1826)
*Henry H. Wells (1823–1824)
* John M. Clayton (1826–1828)
* Samuel Maxwell Harrington (1828–1830)
* Caleb S. Layton (1830–1833, 1836)
*James Rogers (1833–1835)
* William Hemphill Jones (1835–1836)
*John Brinkloe (1836)
*Robert Frame (1836–1837)
*Charles Marim (1837–1841)
* John W. Houston (1841–1845)
* John Wales (1845–1846)
* George P. Fisher (1846–1847)
* Daniel Moore Bates(1847–1851)
*Alfred P. Robinson (1851–1855)
* James R. Lofland (1855–1859)
*Edward Ridgely (1859–1863)
* Nathaniel B. Smithers (1863, 1895)
* Samuel M. Harrington Jr. (1863–1865)
*Custis W. Wright (1865–1871)
*John H. Paynter (1871–1875)
* Ignatius Cooper Grubb (1875–1879)
*James L. Wolcott (1879–1883)
*William R. Causey (1883–1887)
*John P. Saulsbury (1887–1889)
*John F. Saulsbury (1889–1891)
*David T. Marvel (1891–1893)
*John D. Hawkins (1893–1895)
*J. Harvey Whiteman (1895–1897)
* William H. Boyce (1897)
* James H. Hughes (1897–1901)
* Caleb R. Layton (1901–1905)
* Joseph L. Cahall (1905–1909)
* Daniel O. Hastings (1909)
*William T. Smithers (1909–1911)
*Charles S. Richards (1911–1913)
*Thomas W. Miller (1913–1915)
*George H. Hall ((1915–1917)
*Everett C. Johnson (1917–1921)
*Alden R. Benson (1921–1925)
*William G. Taylor (1925)
* Fannie S. Herrington (1925–1926)
*Sylvester D. Townsend Jr. (1926–1927)
*Charles H. Grantland (1927–1934)
*Walter Dent Smith ((1934–1937)
* Charles L. Terry Jr. (1937–1938)
* Josiah Marvel Jr.(1938–1941)
* Earle D. Willey (1941–1942)
*William J. Storey (1942–1949)
*Harris B. McDowell Jr. (1949–1953)
*John N. McDowell (1953–1958)
*George J. Schultz (1958–1961)
*Elisha C. Dukes (1961–1969)
*Eugene Bunting (1969–1971)
*Walton H. Simpson (1971–1973)
*Robert H. Reed (1973–1977)
*Glenn C. Kenton (1977–1985)
*Michael E. Harkins (1985–1991)
* Michael Ratchford (1992)
* William T. Quillen (1993–1994)
* Edward J. Freel (1994–2001)
* Harriet Smith Windsor (2001–2009)
* Jeffrey W. Bullock (2009–2025)
* Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez (2025–present)
See also
* List of company registers
This is a list of official business registers around the world.
There are many types of official business registers, usually maintained for various purposes by a state authority, such as a government agency, or a court of law. In some cases, ...
External links
Delaware Department of State Official HomepageExplanation of the duties of each of the Department's divisionsHistory of the Delaware Department of State
{{Authority control
State secretaries of state of the United States