North Dakota Secretary of State

North Dakota Secretary of State
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
2011-2013 FY Budget:	$16,113,144
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Article V, Section 2
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Name:	Al Jaeger
Officeholder Party:	Republican
Assumed office:	1992
Compensation:	$87,728
Elections
Next election:	November 4, 2014
Last election:	November 2, 2010
Other North Dakota Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission • Tax Commissioner

The North Dakota Secretary of State is an elected executive position in the North Dakota state government. The secretary of state is the chief election officer in the state, and is responsible for licensing business and maintaining a central indexing system. The office maintains the Great Seal of North Dakota.

Current officeholder

The current officeholder is Al Jaeger. He was first elected to office in 1992, and was subsequently re-elected to the position in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2010.

Authority

The state Constitution establishes the office of secretary of state in Article V, Section 2:

The qualified electors of the state at the times and places of choosing members of the legislative assembly shall choose a governor, lieutenant governor, agriculture commissioner, attorney general, auditor, insurance commissioner, three public service commissioners, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction, tax commissioner, and treasurer. ...

Qualifications

Article V, Section 4 of the North Dakota Constitution establishes the qualifications to hold the office of secretary of state:

To be eligible to hold an elective office established by this article, a person must be a qualified elector of this state, must be at least twenty-five years of age on the day of the election, and must have been a resident of this state for the five years preceding election to office. To be eligible to hold the office of governor or lieutenant governor, a person must be at least thirty years old on the day of the election. The attorney general must be licensed to practice law in this state.

• qualified North Dakota voter
• at least 25 years old
• a resident of North Dakota for at least the five preceding years

Elections

The secretary of state in North Dakota is popularly elected every four years, in midterm elections. For North Dakota, 2010, 2014, and 2018 are all secretary of state election years. The term of office is four years.

Vacancies

Article V, Section 8 addresses vacancies in state executive offices. In the event of a vacancy, the governor will fill any office by appointment if no other method is provided by this constitution or by law. The appointed individual serves the remainder of the unexpired term.

Duties

The secretary of state has a number of duties, beyond serving at the state's chief election officer and keeper of the Great Seal of North Dakota. The officeholder, generally, is responsible for:

• maintaining a log of all official acts of the governor
• serving as the State Athletic (Boxing) Commissioner
• maintaining and distributes the North Dakota Century Code, North Dakota Administrative Code, and the North Dakota sessions laws
• publishing the North Dakota Blue Book
• maintaining a record of all original bills and resolutions from each Legislative Assembly

The secretary of state serves on the Board of University and School Lands, the Emergency Commission, the State Historical Board, the State Canvassing Board, and the board for the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award.

Additional duties of the individual divisions within the office of secretary of state are expanded upon in the next section.

Click here to view larger-scale image of the North Dakota SOS Organizational Chart as of March 2013.

Divisions

There are four primary divisions within the office of secretary of state:

• The Administrative/Licensing Division issues licenses to contractors, registers lobbyists, charitable organizations and professional fundraisers, and commissions notaries public.
• The Business Information/Registration Division records trademarks and trade names, and files and maintains records for limited liability partnerships, limited partnerships, domestic and foreign limited liability companies, real estate investments trusts, nonprofit corporations, state banks, credit unions, and cooperatives.
• The Central Indexing Division files UCC documents, agricultural liens, and other liens. This division also maintains a computer database and system that connects the state's fifty-three county Recorders.
• The Elections Division handles all aspects of all elections within the state, including prescribing the form and content of ballots, receiving petitions, filing oaths of office, filing campaign disclosure reports, and certified the names of all elected officials.

State budget

The budget for the Secretary of State's office in Fiscal Year 2011-2013 was $16,113,144.

Compensation

As established by title 54 of the North Dakota state code, the secretary of state receives a salary of $90,360 through June 30, 2012, and $93,071 thereafter.

Former officeholders

Since 1889, North Dakota has had 13 secretaries of state. Thomas Hall served at two different times.

Click "show" for former officeholders.

#	Name	Took office	Left office
1	John Flittie	1889	1892
2	Christian M. Dahl	1893	1896
3	Fred Falley	1897	1900
4	Edward F. Porter	1901	1906
5	Alfred Blaisdell	1907	1910
6	Patrick D. Norton	1911	1912
7	Thomas Hall	1913	1924
8	Robert Byrne	1925	1934
9	James D. Gronna	1935	1940
10	Herman Thorson	1941	1942
11	Thomas Hall	1943	1954
12	Ben Meier	1955	1988
13	Jim Kusler	1989	1992
14	Alvin Jaeger	1993	Present

Contact Information

The North Dakota Secretary of State
600 E Boulevard Avenue Dept 108
Bismarck, ND 58505-0500

Phone: (701) 328-2900
Toll Free Phone: (800) 352-0867
Fax: (701) 328-2992
E-mail: sos@nd.gov

See also

• Al Jaeger, Secretary of State for North Dakota
• Governor of North Dakota
• Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota
• Attorney General of North Dakota
• North Dakota Constitution

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the North Dakota Secretary of State
• North Dakota Century Code