The Mississippi Secretary of State is an officer of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

originally established under the Article IV, §14 of Mississippi Constitution of 1817, and was reestablished under Article V, §133 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890. Several African Americans served in the office during the Reconstruction era:

James D. Lynch James D. Lynch (1839 – December 18, 1872) was a missionary, public official, and state legislator in the United States. He was the first African-American Secretary of State of Mississippi, and a Minister (Christianity), minister. Early life a ...

, Hiram Revels, H. C. Carter, M. M. McLeod, and James Hill. The current secretary of state is Michael Watson.

History

The office of Secretary of State of Mississippi was initially created by the state's original 1817 constitution, which stipulated in Article IV, Section 14, "A Secretary of State shall be appointed, who shall continue in office during the term of two years. He shall keep a fair register of all the official acts and proceedings of the Governor, and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes, and vouchers relative thereto, before the General Assembly, and shall perform such other duties as may be required by law." The state's 1890 constitution modified the position in Article V, Section 133, stipulating, "There shall be a Secretary of State, who shall be elected as herein provided. He shall be at least twenty-five years of age, a citizen of the state five years preceding the day of his election, and he shall continue in office during the term of four years, and shall be keeper of the capitol; he shall keep a correct register of all official acts and proceedings of the Governor; and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes, and vouchers relative thereto, before the Legislature, and he shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by law. He shall receive such compensation as shall be prescribed."

Duties and responsibilities

The secretary of state is elected to serve a four-year term without term limits. The specific duties of the office are determined by the State Legislature. The constitution designates the secretary as the "Keeper of the Capitol" and stipulates that they receive and maintain all election results. The Office of the Secretary of State is composed of eight divisions: *The Business Services & Regulation Division is responsible for chartering

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

s and other business entities, registering

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 per ...

s 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 ...

, issuing

apostille The Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention, is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). ...

s, and regulating notaries public. This division also publishes the Mississippi Administrative Bulletin, which is the official

gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspaper ...

for all

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

s made by state agencies. *Th
Public Lands Division
administers all public lands, including land forfeited in tax foreclosures, lands reserved for school use,

tidelands Tidelands are the territory between the tide line of sea coasts, and lands lying under the sea beyond the low-water limit of the tide, considered within the territorial waters of a nation. The United States Constitution does not specify whether ...

held under the

public trust doctrine The public trust doctrine is the principle that the sovereign holds in trust for public use some resources such as shoreline between the high and low tide lines, regardless of private property ownership. Origins The ancient laws of the Byzanti ...

, and lands held by state agencies. *Th
Elections Division
administers elections, and monitors

campaign finance Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political a ...

and

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

activities. *The Charities Division regulates charities and investigates charity fraud. *The External Affairs Division oversees the office's relations with the state legislature and businesses in the state. *Th
Policy and Research Division
is responsible for reviewing and updating Mississippi’s business laws, as well as other laws and policies administered by the secretary of state. This division includes various committees which examine and revise different aspects of these laws. * The Publications Division oversees the office's educational outreach programs, manages its public relations, and issues state documents, such as the ''Official and Statistical Register''. * The Securities Division enforces the state's Uniform Securities Laws and investigates

securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...

fraud. The secretary's salary is $90,000 per year, but is set to increase to $120,000 annually in 2024. They maintain an office on the first floor of the Mississippi State Capitol.

Territorial secretaries (1798–1817)

Secretaries of state

Jackson December 2018 09 (Secretary of State of Mississippi)

References for this section

References

Works cited

* *

External links

* {{Portal bar, Mississippi, Politics 1817 establishments in Mississippi