en Secretary of State of Nebraska

Secretary of State of Nebraska
Secretary of State of Nebraska
	Incumbent; Bob Evnen; since January 10, 2019
Type	Secretary of State
Term length	4 years
Formation	1854
First holder	Thomas B. Cuming
Website	Official homepage of the Nebraska Secretary of State (Flash/Dynamic HTML website)

The secretary of state of Nebraska is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Nebraska. In Nebraska, the secretary of state is elected for a four-year term. Vacancies are filled by appointment by the governor of Nebraska.

The current officeholder is Bob Evnen, who took office in 2019.

Organization

The secretary of state's office is composed of four divisions:

The Business Services Division registers corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships,^[1] trade names and trademarks. This division is also responsible for filing liens under the Uniform Commercial Code,^[2] licensing notaries public,^[3] and administering Nebraska's address confidentiality program.^[4]
The Elections Division administers elections, including the implementation of the Help America Vote Act.
The Records Management Division is responsible for storing state government records, converting them into different formats when necessary, and creates and administers records retention policies.
The Licensing Division oversees the licensing of collection agencies, debt management agencies, private detectives, and polygraph and voice stress examiners.

Additional duties

The Nebraska secretary of state is the keeper of the Great Seal of the State of Nebraska, and the state's main advisor on youth civics education. The secretary is also in charge of filing, certifying, and distributing state agency rules and regulations which are to become part of the Nebraska Administrative Code. The secretary is the state's "chief protocol officer", with the duty of promoting commerce, cultural exchange and educational studies between Nebraska and foreign nations.

Boards and commissions

The Nebraska secretary of state holds ex officio these posts of the following boards and commissions:

Chairperson of the Nebraska State Records Board, which oversees electronic access to state government information and advises on the implementation of the Records Management Act.
Chairperson of the Nebraska Real Estate Commission, which licenses real estate brokers and agents and investigates complaints against licensees.
Chairperson of the Nebraska Collection Agency Licensing Board, which is responsible for licensing collection agencies.
Secretary of the Nebraska Board of Pardons, which considers applications for pardons of criminal convictions and commutations of sentences.
Secretary of the Board of State Canvassers, which certifies results following each statewide election.
Member of the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, which administers and enforces state laws regarding ethics, campaign finance and lobbying.

List of secretaries of the Territory of Nebraska

#	Image	Name^[5]	Term of office	Party	Appointed By
1		Thomas B. Cuming^[a]	1854–1858^[b]	Democratic	Franklin Pierce
Acting		John B. Motley	1858	Unknown
2		J. Sterling Morton^[c]	1858–1861	Democratic	James Buchanan
3		Algernon S. Paddock^[d]	1861–1867	Republican	Abraham Lincoln

List of secretaries of the State of Nebraska

Parties

Republican (22) Democratic (2) Fusion (Democratic/Populist) (1)

#	Name^[5]	Term of office	Party
1	Thomas P. Kennard^[e]	1867–1871	Republican
2	William H. James^[f]	1871–1873	Republican
3	John J. Gosper	1873–1875	Republican
4	Bruno Tzschuck	1875–1879	Republican
5	Samuel J. Alexander^[6]	1879–1883	Republican
6	Edward P. Roggen	1883–1887	Republican
7	Gilbert L. Laws^[g]	1887–1889	Republican
8	Benjamin R. Cowdery^[h]	1889–1891	Republican
9	John Clayton Allen	1891–1895	Republican
10	Joel A. Piper	1895–1897	Republican
11	William F. Porter	1897–1901	Fusion (Democratic/Populist)
12	George W. Marsh	1901–1905	Republican
13	Algernon Galusha^[7]	1905–1907	Republican
14	George C. Junkin	1907–1911	Republican
15	Addison Wait	1911–1915	Republican
16	Charles W. Pool	1915–1919	Democratic
17	Darius M. Amsberry	1919–1923	Republican
–	Charles W. Pool	1923–1927	Democratic
18	Frank Marsh Sr.	1927–1933	Republican
19	Harry R. Swanson	1933–1941	Democratic
–	Frank Marsh Sr.^[i]	1941–1951	Republican
20	James S. Pittenger^[j]	1951–1953	Republican
21	Frank Marsh Jr.	1953–1971	Republican
22	Allen J. Beermann	1971–1995	Republican
23	Scott Moore^[k]	1995–2000	Republican
24	John A. Gale^[l]	2000–2019	Republican
25	Bob Evnen	2019–present	Republican

Notes

^ Served as Acting Territorial Governor of Nebraska twice; first after the death of Francis Burt from October 18, 1854, to February 23, 1855, and second after the resignation of Mark W. Izard from October 25, 1857 to January 12, 1858.
^ Died while in office on March 23, 1858.
^ Served as Acting Territorial Governor of Nebraska twice; first after the resignation of William A. Richardson from December 5, 1858, to May 2, 1859, and second after the resignation of Samuel W. Black from February 24, 1861, to March 6, 1861.
^ Served as Acting Territorial Governor of Nebraska before the appointment of Alvin Saunders from March 6, 1861, to May 15, 1861.
^ Term of office began Feb. 21, 1867.
^ After the removal of Governor David Butler from office, William H. James served as Acting Governor of Nebraska for most of his term as Secretary of State, since at that time, under the Constitution of 1866, Nebraska had no lieutenant governor.
^ Resigned Nov. 20, 1889, after he was elected to fill the unexpired term in Congress caused by the death of James Laird.
^ Appointed by Governor John Milton Thayer to fill the vacancy created by the election of Gilbert L. Laws to the House of Representatives.
^ Died while in office on February 9, 1951.
^ Appointed Feb. 10, 1951, by Governor Val Peterson to fill the vacancy created by the death of Frank Marsh Sr.
^ Resigned to take a job with Union Pacific Railroad.^[8]
^ Appointed Dec. 18, 2000, by Governor Mike Johanns to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Scott Moore.

References

^ Nebraska Corporations Division
^ Nebraska UCC Division
^ Nebraska Notary Public Division
^ Nebraska Address Confidentiality Program
^ ^a ^b 2018-19 Nebraska Blue Book (PDF) (54th ed.). 2019. p. 422. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
^ "Republican Ticket". Nebraska State Journal. November 5, 1878. p. 2.
^ "Washington County Returns". Blair Courier. November 16, 1904. p. 4. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
^ Paul Hammel (March 21, 2017), "Longtime Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale won't run for re-election", Omaha World-Herald, retrieved November 21, 2022

External links

Duties of the Nebraska Secretary of State

[6] Served as Acting Territorial Governor of Nebraska twice; first after the death of Francis Burt from October 18, 1854, to February 23, 1855, and second after the resignation of Mark W. Izard from October 25, 1857 to January 12, 1858.

[7] Died while in office on March 23, 1858.

[8] Served as Acting Territorial Governor of Nebraska twice; first after the resignation of William A. Richardson from December 5, 1858, to May 2, 1859, and second after the resignation of Samuel W. Black from February 24, 1861, to March 6, 1861.

[9] Served as Acting Territorial Governor of Nebraska before the appointment of Alvin Saunders from March 6, 1861, to May 15, 1861.

[10] Term of office began Feb. 21, 1867.

[11] After the removal of Governor David Butler from office, William H. James served as Acting Governor of Nebraska for most of his term as Secretary of State, since at that time, under the Constitution of 1866, Nebraska had no lieutenant governor.

[13] Resigned Nov. 20, 1889, after he was elected to fill the unexpired term in Congress caused by the death of James Laird.

[14] Appointed by Governor John Milton Thayer to fill the vacancy created by the election of Gilbert L. Laws to the House of Representatives.

[16] Died while in office on February 9, 1951.

[17] Appointed Feb. 10, 1951, by Governor Val Peterson to fill the vacancy created by the death of Frank Marsh Sr.

[19] Resigned to take a job with Union Pacific Railroad.^[8]

[20] Appointed Dec. 18, 2000, by Governor Mike Johanns to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Scott Moore.

[1] Nebraska Corporations Division

[2] Nebraska UCC Division

[3] Nebraska Notary Public Division

[4] Nebraska Address Confidentiality Program

[bluebook2019-5] 2018-19 Nebraska Blue Book (PDF) (54th ed.). 2019. p. 422. Retrieved 30 December 2019.

[12] "Republican Ticket". Nebraska State Journal. November 5, 1878. p. 2.

[15] "Washington County Returns". Blair Courier. November 16, 1904. p. 4. Retrieved June 18, 2023.

[18] Paul Hammel (March 21, 2017), "Longtime Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale won't run for re-election", Omaha World-Herald, retrieved November 21, 2022

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]

[f]

[6]

[g]

[h]

[7]

[i]

[j]

[k]

[l]

[8]

Secretary of State of Nebraska