State executives with term limits

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There are a number of term limits to offices in the United States, which restrict the number of terms an individual can hold a certain office.

State executive offices represent a state's executive branch, charged with implementing and enforcing the laws made by state legislatures. State executive officers are ordinarily either elected or appointed by the governor. In some cases, officers are chosen by the state legislature or supreme court.

Based on the term limits information gathered by the Book of the States 2012 from the Council of State Governments:

• 12 states have no term limit provisions for their state executive offices: Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota,Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
• For the office of governor, 14 states have no term limit provisions in place: Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota,Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin
• Virginia is the only state with a provision specifying that an individual may hold office for an unlimited number of terms. These provisions are in place for lieutenant governor and attorney general offices.

Term limits by state and office

See also: Chart of state executive officers

State	Governor	Lt. Governor	Secretary of State	Attorneys general	Treasurer	Auditor	Comptroller	Education	Agriculture	Labor	Insurance
Alabama	2	2	2	2	2	-	-	-	2	-	-
Alaska	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arizona	2 (c)	-	2	2	2	-	-	2	-	-	-
Arkansas	2 (c)	2	2	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
California	2	2	2	2	2	-	2	2	-	-	-
Colorado	2	2	2	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Connecticut	N	N	N	N	N	-	N	-	-	-	-
Delaware	2(f)(c)	2	-	N	N	N	-	-	-	-	N
Florida	2	2	-	2	2	-	2	N	N	-	-
Georgia	2	N	N	N	-	-	-	N	N	N	N
Hawaii	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Idaho	N	N	N	N	N	-	2	N	-	-	-
Illinois	N	N	N	N	N	-	N	-	-	-	-
Indiana	2(h)	2	2	-	(f)	-	2	-	-	-	-
Iowa	N	N	N	N	N	N	-	-	N	-	-
Kansas	2	2	N	N	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kentucky	2	2	2	2	2	2	-	-	2	2	-
Louisiana	2(h)	N	N	N	N	-	-	N	N	-	N
Maine	2	(i)	(j)	(j)	(j)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Maryland	2 (h)	2	-	N	-	-	N	-	-	-	-
Massachusetts	N	N	N	2	N	N	-	-	-	-	-
Michigan	2	2	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Minnesota	N	N	N	N	-	N	-	-	-	-	(l)
Mississippi	2	2(h)	N	N	N	N	-	-	-	-	-
Missouri	2	N	N	N	2(c)	N	-	-	-	-	-
Montana	2(m)	2(m)	2(m)	2(m)	-	N	-	2(m)	-	-	-
Nebraska	2(h)	2(h)	N	N	2(h)	N	-	-	-	-	-
Nevada	2	2	2	2	2	-	2	-	-	-	-
New Hampshire	(t)	(i)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
New Jersey	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
New Mexico	2	2(h)	2(h)	2(h)	2(h)	2(h)	-	-	-	-	-
New York	N	N	-	N	-	N	N	-	-	-	-
North Carolina	2	2	N	N	N	N	-	N	N	N	N
North Dakota	N	N	N	N	N	N	-	N	N	N	N
Ohio	2(h)	2	2	2	2	2	-	-	-	-	-
Oklahoma	2(h)	N	-	N	N	N	-	2(h)	-	2(h)	N
Oregon	2(f)	-	2(f)	N	2(f)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Pennsylvania	2	2	-	2	2(r)	2(h)	-	-	-	-	-
Rhode Island	2	2(h)	2(h)	2(h)	2(h)	-	-	-	-	-	-
South Carolina	2(h)	2	N	N	N	-	N	N	N	-	-
South Dakota	2	2(h)	2(h)	2(h)	2(h)	-	2	-	-	-	-
Tennessee	2(h)	(i)	-	(s)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Texas	N	N	-	N	-	-	N	-	-	-	-
Utah	N	N	-	N	N	N	-	-	-	-	-
Vermont	(t)	(t)	(t)	(t)	(t)	(t)	-	-	-	-	-
Virginia	(v)	(u)	-	(u)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Washington	N	N	N	N	N	N	-	N	-	-	-
West Virginia	2	N(i)	N	N	N	-	N	-	N	-	-
Wisconsin	N	N	N	N	N	-	-	N	-	-	-
Wyoming	2(m)	-	N	-	2	-	2	N	-	-	-

Key:

• (N) No provision specifying number of terms allowed
• (-) Position is appointed or elected by governmental entity (not chosen by the electorate)
• (c) Absolute two-term limitation, but not necessarily consecutive.
• (f) Eligible for eight out of any period of twelve years.
• (h) After two consecutive terms, must wait four years and/or one full term before being eligible again.
• (i) President or Speaker of the Senate is next in line of succession to the governorship. In Tennessee and West Virginia, Speaker of the Senate has the statutory title “Lieutenant Governor.”

• (j) Serves 2-year term and is eligible to serve 4 terms.
• (m) Eligible for eight out of sixteen years. Due to a recent Wyoming Supreme Court ruling, term limits may be unconstitutional
• (r) Treasurer must wait four years before being eligible for the office of auditor general
• (s) Term is for eight years and official is appointed by judges of the State Supreme Court
• (t) Serves two-year term, no provision specifying the number of terms allowed
• (u) Provision specifying individual may hold office for an unlimited number of terms
• (v) Cannot serve consecutive terms, but after 4-year respite can seek re-election

See also

• States with gubernatorial term limits
• Secretaries of State with term limits
• Term limits on the ballot
• List of term limits ballot measures
• Term limits in the United States
• Executive Summary: Term limits and reading the fine print

External links

• Book of the States 2012 from the Council of State Governments
• Table 4.9: Constitutional and Statutory Provisions for Number of Consecutive Terms of Elected State Officials from the Book of the States 2012