| Secretary of State of the State of Kansas |
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Great Seal of the State of Kansas |
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| Website | http://www.kssos.org |
The Secretary of State of Kansas is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kansas.
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The first Secretary of State for Kansas was John Winter Robinson, a physician from Manhattan, Kansas. Robinson was elected in December 1859, in anticipation of statehood for Kansas, and sworn in after Kansas was admitted to the Union in February 1861.[1]
As a result of a bond scandal, Secretary Robinson was impeached on February 26, 1862, along with Governor Charles L. Robinson and State Auditor George S. Hillyer. Secretary Robinson was convicted by the Kansas Senate on June 12, 1862, and removed from his office, becoming the first state executive branch official to be impeached and removed from office in U.S. history. Hillyer was also removed from office, on June 16, but Governor Robinson was acquitted. Sanders R. Shepard succeeded to the job of Secretary of State on July 28, 1862.[1]
The Secretary of State is the chief elections officer of the state, administering elections and voter registration throughout the state. The office also files campaign finance reports[2] and registers lobbyists.[3] The duty of regulating lobbying and campaign finance is shared with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission.
The Secretary operates the Business Filing Center, which registers business entities, trademarks, trade names, and liens made pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code.[4]
The secretary regulates a wide variety of businesses, including sports agents, trade unions,[5] cemeteries, and funeral homes.[6]
The Secretary's Publications Section is responsible for publishing various legal and informational documents for the state. This includes statutory and administrative law publications such as session laws, regulations, and the state's gazette, the Kansas Register.[7]
The Secretary also operates "Safe at Home," the state's Address Confidentiality Program[8] and conducts census adjustments.[9]
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| Name | Term | Party |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Woodson | 1854-1857 | Democratic |
| Frederick P. Stanton | 1857 | Democratic |
| James W. Denver | 1857-1858 | Democratic |
| Hugh Sleight Walsh | 1858-1860 | Democratic |
| George M. Beebe | 1860-1861 | Democratic |
| Name | Term | Party |
|---|---|---|
| John Winter Robinson | 1861-1862 | Republican |
| Sanders Rufus Shepherd | 1862-1863 | Republican |
| Warren Wirt Henry Lawrence | 1863-1865 | Republican |
| Rinaldo Allen Barker | 1865-1869 | Republican |
| Thomas Moonlight | 1869-1871 | Republican |
| William Hillary Smallwood | 1871-1875 | Republican |
| Thomas Horne Cavanaugh | 1875-1879 | Republican |
| James Smith | 1879-1885 | Republican |
| Edwin Bird Allen | 1885-1889 | Republican |
| William Higgins | 1889-1893 | Republican |
| Russell Scott Osborn | 1893-1895 | Populist |
| William Corydon Edwards | 1895-1897 | Republican |
| William Eben Bush | 1897-1899 | Populist |
| George Alfred Clark | 1899-1903 | Republican |
| Joel Randall Burrow | 1903-1907 | Republican |
| Charles Eugene Denton | 1907-1911 | Republican |
| Charles Harrison Sessions | 1911-1915 | Republican |
| John Thomas Botkin | 1915-1919 | Republican |
| Lewis Julian Pettijohn | 1919-1922 | Republican |
| David Owen McCray | 1922-1923 | Republican |
| Frank Joseph Ryan | 1923-1929 | Republican |
| Edgbert Albert Cornell | 1929-1933 | Republican |
| Frank Joseph Ryan | 1933-1949 | Republican |
| Larry Ryan | 1949-1951 | Democratic |
| Paul R. Shanahan | 1951-1966 | Republican |
| Elwill M. Shanahan | 1966-1978 | Republican |
| Jack Brier | 1978-1987 | Republican |
| Bill Graves | 1987-1995 | Republican |
| Ron Thornburgh | 1995-2010 | Republican |
| Chris Biggs | 2010-2011 | Democratic |
| Kris Kobach | 2011-present | Republican |
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