Montana Secretary of State

Montana Secretary of State
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Term limits:	Two terms in a 16 year period
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Montana Constitution, Article VI, Section 1 the Executive Department
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Name:	Linda McCulloch
Officeholder Party:	Democratic
Assumed office:	January 2008
Compensation:	$79,129
Elections
Next election:	Term limited
Last election:	November 6, 2012
Other Montana Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Public Instruction • Agriculture Director • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Director • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission

The Secretary of State for Montana is one of the elected constitutional officers of executive branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The secretary of state is the keeper of the Montana state seal, and also serves on the Montana Board of Land Commissioners, which administers school trust lands.

Current officeholder

The current Secretary of State is Linda McCulloch. She was first elected to the statewide position in 2008 and won re-election in 2012.

Authority

The state Constitution addresses the office of secretary of state in Article VI, the Executive Department.

Under Article VI, Section I:

The executive branch includes a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state...

Qualifications

A candidate for secretary of state must be:

• at least 25 years of age or older at the time of election
• a citizen of the United States
• have resided within the state at least two years at his election

Elections

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits, State legislatures with term limits

Article VI of the Montana State Constitution stipulates that the Secretary of State is a publicly elected official who serves a term of four years. This statewide officer will, according to Article IV, Section 8, have served in that office or had he not resigned or been recalled would have served in that office 8 or more years in any 16-year period.

2012

See also: Montana secretary of state election, 2012

Incumbent Linda McCulloch (D) successfully won re-election, defeating Brad Johnson (R) and Roger Roots (L) in the November 6, 2012 general election.

Montana Secretary of State General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Linda McCulloch Incumbent	51.4%	245,024
	Republican	Brad Johnson	45.1%	214,976
	Libertarian	Roger Roots	3.5%	16,622
Total Votes				476,622
Election Results via Montana Secretary of State.

Vacancies

Details of vacancies are addressed under Article VI, Section 6.

If the secretary of state's office is vacant due to death, resignation, or disability, the Governor shall appoint a new secretary of state.

Duties

The state Constitution addresses the duties of the secretary of state in [[Article VI, Montana Constitution#Section 4|Article VI, Section 4.

Under Article VI, Section 4(3):

The secretary of state shall maintain official records of the executive branch and of the acts of the legislature, as provided by law. He shall keep the great seal of the state of Montana and perform any other duties provided by law.

Divisions

The secretary of state's Office is composed of five divisions:

• The Administrative Rules Services Division is the administrative law arm of the Secretary's office, filing rule notices, rule adoptions, and interpretations, and publishing the state register twice a month. The state's code of regulations, the Administrative Rules of Montana, is updated quarterly.
• The Business Services Division registers business entities, trademarks, assumed business names, and liens made under the Uniform Commercial Code and Federal Food Security Act.
• The Certification and Notaries Division licenses and trains notaries public and certifies documents.
• The Elections and Government Services division administers elections and voter registration. Campaign finance and lobbying is regulated by a separate agency, the Commissioner of Political Practices.
• The Records Management Bureau maintains the records of state and local governments.

Compensation

The state Constitution addresses compensation of executive officials in Article VI, Section 5.

Under Article VI, Section 5(1):

Officers of the executive branch shall receive salaries provided by law.

In 2010, the Montana Secretary of State was paid an estimated $79,129 according to the Council of State Governments.

Former officeholders

Since 1889, Montana has had 20 secretaries of state. Of the 20, 9 have been Republicans, 9 have been Democrats, one was a Populist and one had an unknown party affiliation. Three have died in office.

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
1	Louis Rotwitt	November 1889	January 1897	Republican
2	T.S. Hogan	January 1897	January 1901	Populist
3	George M. Hays	January 1901	January 1905	Democratic
4	Abraham N. Yoder	January 1905	August 1911	Republican
5	Thomas M. Swindlehurst	August 1911	January 1913	Democratic
6	Adelbert M. Alderson	January 1913	December 1916	Democratic
7	Charles T. Stewart	January 1917	March 1927	Republican
8	Robert N. Hawkins	March 1927	April 1927	Democratic
9	William Powers	May 1927	April 1928	Party affiliation unknown
10	John W. Mountjoy	April 1928	January 1929	Democratic
11	William E. Harmon	January 1929	January 1933	Republican
12	Sam W. Mitchell	January 1933	June 1955	Democratic
13	S.C. Arnold	June 1955	January 1957	Republican
14	Frank Murray	January 1957	January 1981	Democratic
15	Jim Waltermire	January 1981	April 1988	Republican
16	Verner Bertelsen	April 1988	January 1989	Republican
17	Mike Cooney	January 1989	January 2001	Democratic
18	Bob Brown	January 2001	January 2005	Republican
19	Brad Johnson	January 2005	2009	Republican
20	Linda McCulloch	January 2009	Present	Democratic

Contact information

Capitol Address:
Montana Secretary of State
Post Office Box 202801
Helena, MT 59620-2801

Phone: (406) 444-2034
Fax: (406) 444-3976
E-mail: sos@mt.gov

See also

• Linda McCulloch, Montana Secretary of State
• Governor of Montana
• Lieutenant Governor of Montana
• Attorney General of Montana
• Montana Constitution

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Montana Secretary of State
• About the office of the Montana Secretary of State
• Wikipedia, Montana Secretary of State

Portions of this article were adapted from Wikipedia.