- Secretary of State of Kentucky
The Secretary of State of Kentucky is one of the constitutional officers of the
U.S. state ofKentucky . It is now an elected office, but was an appointed office prior to 1891. The current Secretary of State isTrey Grayson .History and name of position
Despite the fact that Kentucky designates itself a Commonwealth, the office itself is still referred to as "Secretary of State". The office was created by Article II, Section 17 of the
Kentucky Constitution of 1792 simply as "the secretary". Article III, Section 21, of the Kentucky Constitution of 1850 changed the title of the office to Secretary of State.Section 91 of the Kentucky Constitution of 1891 (the most recent state constitution), changed the method by which the Secretary of State is selected. Prior to 1891, the secretary was appointed by the governor; under the present Constitution, the Secretary of State is elected by the qualified voters of the state. In 1992, the Constitution was amended to allow the Secretary of State to serve two successive terms. [ [http://sos.ky.gov/executive/ Executive Branch of the Office of the Secretary of State--History of the office] ] [ [http://apps.sos.ky.gov/secdesk/sosinfo/sostimeline.aspx Timeline of legal changes to the Office of Secretary of State] ]
tructure and duties of the office
The Secretary of State's Office is composed of five divisions:
*The [http://sos.ky.gov/business/ Business Services Division] is responsible for maintaining records regarding creation and status of
corporation s and business entities, registration oftrademark s andservice mark s, recordinglien s made pursuant to theUniform Commercial Code .
*The [http://sos.ky.gov/elections/ Elections Division] certifies the name, party affiliation and ballot position of all candidates filed with him to the appropriate county clerks for ballot printing. The actual administration of elections is conducted by an separate, independent agency, the [http://www.elect.ky.gov/ Kentucky State Board of Elections] .
*The [http://sos.ky.gov/adminservices/ Administrative Services Division] appoints notaries public, issuesapostille s, and serves as theregistered agent forservice of process in cases involving foreign corporations, as well as service ofsummons and petitions in actions against non-resident motorists.
* [http://sos.ky.gov/land/ Kentucky Land Office] is anarchive ofland patent s andland grant s dating back to the colonial era.
* [http://sos.ky.gov/executive/ Executive Branch of the Office of the Secretary of State] files and maintainslegislation passed by theKentucky General Assembly and executive orders of theGovernor of Kentucky , including appointments to the Order of Kentucky Colonels. This division is also the keeper of the Seal of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the personal seal of the Secretary of State.References
External links
* [http://sos.ky.gov/ Official homepage of the Kentucky Secretary of State]
* [http://apps.sos.ky.gov/secdesk/sosinfo/default.aspx List of past Secretaries of State of Kentucky]
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