Kansas Secretary of State

On Tuesday, March 16th, Governor Mark Parkinson named Kansas Securities Commissioner, Chris Biggs, as the new Kansas Secretary of State. Biggs, the 30th Kansas Secretary of State, replaced Ron Thornburgh, who resigned to take a job in an Olathe-based business.

Below is information on what the Secretary of State does. We’ve also included links to information on the naming of Chris Biggs as well as some information on former Secretaries of State.

Chris Biggs’ appointment as Secretary of State is a process of government laid out in our State Constitution:
“When the office of secretary of state or attorney general is vacant, the governor shall fill the vacancy by appointment for the remainder of the term.”
(From Article 1, Kansas State Constitution)

Kansas Secretary of State home page
http://www.kssos.org/main.html

SOME PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE
The Office of Secretary of State has many differing duties covering a wide area of Kansas government:
---Elections
http://www.kssos.org/elections/elections.html
(The Secretary of State oversees the administration of all national and state elections in Kansas)
---Voting and Voter Registration
http://www.kssos.org/elections/elections_registration.html
(Kansas elections are conducted by the counties with oversight by the Secretary of State's office)
---Kansas Business Filing Center
http://www.kssos.org/business/business.html
(The Secretary operates the Business Filing Center, which registers business entities, trademarks, trade names, and liens made pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code. Also provided is a Business Entity Search database)
---Filing and Forms
http://www.kssos.org/forms/forms.html
(The Secretary of State is a filing agency for many different entities and activities, among them: Business Entities, Uniform Commercial Code, Notary Public, Elections & Legislative, Cemeteries & Funeral Homes and Miscellaneous)
---Finance Rates
http://www.kssos.org/pubs/pubs_finance_rates.html
(The Secretary provides online finance rates covering usury rate, Kansas code mortgage rate and judgment rate on his website)
---Official State Publications
http://www.kssos.org/pubs/pubs.html
(These resources range from a directory of public officials in Kansas to a Legislative Directory to the Official state newspaper (Kansas Register) to a handbook that explains the corporate code)
---Legal Publications
http://www.kssos.org/forms/Elections/LS.pdf
(Publication and issuance of several state legal publications is overseen by the Secretary of State: Kansas Statutes Annotated, Kansas Administrative Regulations, Session Laws, House and Senate Journals, Election Laws, Election Standards and the Kansas/U.S. Constitutions)
---Safe At Home Program
http://www.kssos.org/safeathome/main.html
---Informed Charitable Giving in Kansas
http://www.kscharitycheck.org/
(The Secretary of State oversees registration of nonprofits in Kansas and offers this website and database, along with the Attorney General and Secretary on Aging, as a service in locating and verifying groups for charitable giving)
(Kansas is one of several states that offers an address confidentiality program. Safe at Home (SaH), enacted in 2006, provides a substitute address for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking or stalking, as well as a free mail forwarding system for all first-class mail)
---Census Adjustments
http://www.kssos.org/resources/kansas_census.html
(Census information is used for a variety of purposes, the most important being redistricting. The Census Adjustment to the 2000 U.S. Decennial Census is available through the Secretary's office)
---Kansas Lobbyists Directory
http://www.kssos.org/elections/elections_lobbyists.html
(All lobbyists register with the Secretary of State. )

OTHER RESOURCES

Kansas Secretaries of State List
http://www.kshs.org/genealogists/individuals/officials/secyofstate.htm
(A list of territorial and state Secretaries of State with terms of office and vitals. Provided by the Kansas State Historical Society)

ATLAS Catalog Search
http://topekalibraries.info/
Library material held by the libraries of the ATLAS Online Catalog about or by the Kansas Secretary of State
---Kansas Secretary of State (as an author)
---Kansas Secretary of State (as a subject)
---Secretaries of state -- State governments -- Kansas -- Biography
(The ATLAS Catalog includes holdings of the State Library of Kansas, Kansas State Historical Society, Kansas Supreme Court Law Library and the Washburn University Libraries)

Corporation/Business Entity Filings & Annual Reports
http://www.kshs.org/research/collections/documents/govtrecords/corpfile.htm
(The Kansas State Archives has some records of the Secretary of State. The collection above is available to researchers on microfilm at the Kansas State Historical Society's Reearch Center in Topeka)

Kansas Memory Project
http://www.kansasmemory.org/category/785
(A few primary resources on Kansas secretaries of state entered online by the Kansas State Historical Society)

ARTICLES ON BIGGS NAMING

Parkinson Names Biggs as Secretary of State
http://www.kansas.com/2010/03/17/1228481/parkinson-names-biggs-as-secretary.html
(Wichita Eagle)

Parkinson Names Biggs SOS
http://cjonline.com/news/legislature/2010-03-16/parkinson_names_biggs_sos
(Topeka Capital Journal)

Securities chief named Secy. of State
http://www.morningsun.net/news/x427972612/Securities-chief-named-Secy-of-State
(Pittsburg Morning Sun)

Article contact: Bill Sowers
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