Secretary of State of Colorado

Secretary of State of Colorado
Executive Seal
Incumbent Jena Griswold since January 8, 2019
Colorado Department of State
Constituting instrument	Colorado Constitution
Formation	June 6, 1861
First holder	Lewis Weld
Website	www.sos.state.co.us

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 four elected constitutional offices in the state. The current secretary of state is Democrat Jena Griswold.

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 and business names; files trade names for certain business entities; registers trademarks, 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 organizations 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 file, verifies initiative petition signatures, and administers the campaign finance laws; and serves as the filing office for unincorporated communities and for conflict of interest disclosure statements.
• Administration Division: Provides management and central support services for the Department of State such as budgeting, accounting, and human resources; monitors the use of the state seal, certifies the interest rate on appealed money judgments, files acts passed by the General Assembly, 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 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.

Secretaries of the Territory of Colorado

Image	Name	Term	Party
	Lewis Ledyard Weld	1861		Republican
	Samuel Hitt Elbert	1862-1866		Republican
	Frank Hall	1866–1874		Republican
	John W. Jenkins	1874–1875		Republican
	John Taffe	1875–1876		Republican

Secretaries of the State of Colorado

Image	Name	Term	Party
	William Clark	1876–1879		Republican
	Norman H. Meldrum	1879–1883		Republican
	Melvin Edwards	1883–1887		Republican
	James Rice	1887–1891		Republican
	Edward J. Eaton	1891–1893		Republican
	Nelson O. McCless	1893–1895		Populist
	Albert B. McGaffey	1895–1897		Republican
	Charles H.S. Whipple	1897–1899		Democratic
	Elmer F. Beckwith	1899–1901		Democratic
	David A. Mills	1901–1903		Democratic
	James Cowie	1903–1907		Republican
	Timothy O'Connor	1907–1909		Republican
	James B. Pearce	1909–1915		Democratic
	John E. Ramer	1915–1917		Republican
	James R. Noland	1917–1921		Democratic
	Carl Miliken	1921–1927		Republican
	Charles Armstrong	1927–1935		Republican
	James Carr	1935–1935		Democratic
	George Saunders	1935–1941		Democratic
	Walter Morrison	1941–1949		Republican
	George Baker	1949–1953		Democratic
	Homer Bruce	1953–1955		Republican
	George Baker	1955–1963		Democratic
	Bryon A. Anderson	1963–1974		Republican
	Mary Estill Buchanan	1974–1983		Republican
	Natalie Meyer	1983–1995		Republican
	Victoria Buckley	1995–1999		Republican
	Donetta Davidson	1999–2005		Republican
	Gigi Dennis	2005–2007		Republican
	Mike Coffman	2007–2009		Republican
	Bernie Buescher	2009–2011		Democratic
	Scott Gessler	2011–2015		Republican
	Wayne W. Williams	2015–2019		Republican
	Jena Griswold	2019–present		Democratic

See also

• Bibliography of Colorado
• Geography of Colorado
• History of Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles
• List of Colorado-related lists
• Outline of Colorado

Notes

References

External links

• State of Colorado
  • Colorado Secretary of State