Secretary of State of Rhode Island

Secretary of State of Rhode Island
Secretary of State of Rhode Island
	Incumbent; Gregg Amore; since January 3, 2023
Type	Secretary of State
Formation	1798
First holder	Samuel Eddy
Website	Office of the Rhode Island Secretary of State, official homepage

The secretary of state of Rhode Island is an elected office in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of 2023, the current secretary of state is Gregg Amore.

Powers and duties

The Rhode Island Department of State or is composed of five separate divisions:

The Elections and Civics Division prepares ballots, ensures accessibility of voting facilities, qualifies and certifies the names of all federal and state candidates for ballot placement, maintains a database of registered voters, and ensures compliance with the Help America Vote Act. Administration of elections and compliance with campaign finance laws is the responsibility of a separate state agency, the Rhode Island Board of Elections.
The Corporations Division is responsible for a wide range of business-related legal documents and filings, including formation of corporations and other business entities, liens and security interests under the Uniform Commercial Code, registration of notaries public, apostilles, trademarks and service marks, registration of businesses conducting games of chance, and various other documents required by state law.
The Public Information Division accepts many filings required to be made with the secretary of state, including lobbying disclosures, public meeting notices and minutes, disclosure of state government consultants, and appointments to boards and commissions, and other government information. This division also publishes the Rhode Island Government Owner's Manual, which gives a broad overview of various government offices and officials.
The Rhode Island State Archives is the official custodian and trustee for public records of permanent historical value.
The Rhode Island State Library, which was created in 1852 by a General Assembly resolution as part of the office of the secretary of state. Its purpose is to assist members of the General Assembly with research on the preparation of proposed legislation. The State Library also includes a law library.^[1]

List of secretaries of state

List of officeholders^[2]
Name	Tenure	Party
Henry Ward	1775–1797
Samuel Eddy	1798–1818	Republican
Henry Bowen	1819–1848	Whig
Christopher E. Robbins	1849–1850	Whig
Asa Potter	1851–1853	Democratic
William R. Watson	1854	Whig
John Russell Bartlett	1855–1871	Republican
Joshua M. Addeman	1872–1886	Republican
Edwin D. McGuinness	1887	Democratic
Samuel H. Cross	1888–1889
Edwin D. McGuinness	1890	Democratic
George H. Utter	1891–1893	Republican
Charles P. Bennett	1894–1909	Republican
J. Fred Parker	1910–1923	Republican
Ernest L. Sprague	1924–1932	Republican
Louis W. Cappelli	1933–1938	Democratic
J. Hector Paquin	1939–1940	Republican
Armand H. Cote	1941–1956	Democratic
John A. Notte, Jr.	1957–1958	Democratic
August P. LaFrance	1959–1972	Democratic
Robert F. Burns	1973–1982	Democratic
Susan Farmer	1983–1986	Republican
Kathleen S. Connell	1987–1992	Democratic
Barbara Leonard	1993–1994	Republican
James Langevin	1995–2001	Democratic
Edward S. Inman	2001–2002	Independent
Matthew A. Brown	2003–2006	Democratic
Ralph Mollis	2007–2014	Democratic
Nellie Gorbea	2015–2023	Democratic
Gregg Amore	2023–present	Democratic