{{Short description|US constitutional officer}} {{Infobox official post | post = Secretary | insignia = Secretary of the State of Connecticut Seal.png | insigniasize = | insigniacaption = Seal of the Secretary of the State | body = the State of Connecticut | image = Stephanie Thomas 2023 (cropped).jpg | incumbent = Stephanie Thomas | incumbentsince = January 4, 2023 | type = Secretary | termlength = 4 years | formation = 1639 | first = Edward Hopkins | website = [https://portal.ct.gov/sots Official homepage of the Connecticut Secretary of the State] }} The '''secretary of the state of Connecticut''' is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Connecticut. (The definite article is part of the legal job title.) It is an elected position in the state government and has a term length of four years. ; The current secretary of the state is Stephanie Thomas, a Democrat who has held the office since January 2023 after defeating Republican opponent Dominic Rapini in the 2022 general election.

The Secretary of the State's Office is composed of two divisions: *The [https://web.archive.org/web/20080416194529/http://www.sots.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3179&q=392220&SOTSNav_GID=1846 Legislation and Elections Administration Division], which administers elections and ensures compliance with state and federal election laws. This division is also responsible for maintaining governmental records, administering the Seal of Connecticut, and licensing notaries public.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080416202223/http://www.sots.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3181&q=392240&SOTSNav_GID=1842 Overview of the Office of the Secretary of the State]</ref> *The [https://archive.today/20121213052608/http://www.sots.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3177&q=392126&SOTSNav_GID=1844 Commercial Recording Division], which charters corporations and other business entities, registers trademarks, service marks, and liens under the Uniform Commercial Code, and issues apostilles.

==List of secretaries of state of Connecticut== ===Before statehood=== {| class="wikitable" |- | '''Name''' | '''Town''' | '''Term of service''' | '''Years of service''' |- | Edward Hopkins | Hartford | 1639–1641 | 2 yrs. |- | Thomas Welles | Hartford | 1641–1648 | 7 yrs. |- | John Cullick | Hartford, O | 1648–1658 | 10 yrs. |- | Daniel Clark | Windsor, O | 1658–1664, 1665–1667 | 8 yrs. |- | John Allyn | Hartford, O | 1664–1665, 1667–1696 | 30 yrs. |- | Eleazer Kimberly | Glastonbury, O | 1696–1709 | 13 yrs. |- | William Whiting | Hartford, O | 1709 | 3 mo. |- | Caleb Stanly | Hartford, O | 1709–1712 | 3 yrs. |- | Richard Lord | Hartford, O | 1712 | 17 d. |- | Hezekiah Wyllys | Hartford, O | 1712–1735 | 23 yrs. |- | George Wyllys | Hartford, O | 1735–1796 | 61 yrs. |- |}

===Since statehood=== Connecticut ratified the United States Constitution and gained statehood in 1788.

{| class="wikitable" |- ! '''Image''' ! '''Name''' ! '''Town''' ! '''Political party''' ! '''Term of service''' |- | | George Wyllys | Hartford | | 1788–1796 |- | | Samuel Wyllys | Hartford | | 1796–1810 |- | | Thomas Day | Hartford | | 1810–1835 |- | 60px | Royal Ralph Hinman | Southbury | | 1835–1842 |- | | Noah A. Phelps | Hartford | | 1842–1844 |- | | Daniel P. Tyler | Pomfret | | 1844–1846 |- | | Charles W. Bradley | Hartford | | 1846–1847 |- | | John B. Robertson | New Haven | | 1847–1849 |-{{Party shading/Whig}} | | Roger H. Mills | N. Hartford |Whig | 1849–1850 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | Hiram Weed | Danbury | Democratic | 1850 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | John P. C. Mather | New London | Democratic | 1850–1854 |-{{Party shading/Whig}} | 60px | Oliver H. Perry | Fairfield | Whig | 1854–1855 |-{{Party shading/American}} | 60px | Nehemiah D. Sperry | New Haven | American | 1855–1857 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Orville H. Platt | Meriden | American, Republican | 1857–1858 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | John Boyd | Winchester | Republican | 1858–1861 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | James Hammond Trumbull | Hartford | Republican | 1861–1866 |- | | Leverett E. Pease | Somers | Union | 1866–1869 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | Hiram Appelman | Groton | Republican | 1869–1870 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Thomas M. Waller | New London | Democratic | 1870–1871 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | Hiram Appelman | Groton | Republican | 1871–1873 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | D. W. Edgecomb | Fairfield | Republican | 1873 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | Marvin H. Sanger | Canterbury | Democratic | 1873–1877 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Dwight Morris | Bridgeport | Democratic | 1877-–1879 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | David Torrance | Derby | Republican | 1879–1881 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | Charles E. Searls | Thompson | Republican | 1881–1883 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | D. Ward Northrop | Middletown | Democratic | 1883–1885 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Charles A. Russell | Killingly | Republican | 1885–1887 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | Leverett M. Hubbard | Wallingford | Republican | 1887–1889 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | R. Jay Walsh | Greenwich | Republican | 1889–1893 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | John J. Phelan | Bridgeport | Democratic | 1893–1895 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | William C. Mowry | Norwich | Republican | 1895–1897 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Charles Phelps | Rockville | Republican | 1897–1899 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | Huber Clark | Willimantic | Republican | 1899–1901 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Charles G. R. Vinal | Middletown | Republican | 1901–1905 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Theodore Bodenwein | New London | Republican | 1905–1909 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | Matthew H. Rogers | Bridgeport | Republican | 1909–1913 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | Albert Phillips | Stamford | Democratic | 1913–1915 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | Charles D. Burnes | Greenwich | Republican | 1915–1917 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | Frederick L. Perry | New Haven | Republican | 1917–1921 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | Donald J. Warner | Salisbury | Republican | 1921–1923 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Francis A. Pallotti | Hartford | Republican | 1923–1929 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | William L. Higgins | Coventry | Republican | 1929–1933 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | John A. Danaher | Hartford | Republican | 1933–1935 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | C. John Satti | New London | Democratic | 1935–1939 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Sara B. Crawford | Westport | Republican | 1939–1941 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Chase G. Woodhouse | New London | Democratic | 1941–1943 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Frances B. Redick | Newington | Republican | 1943–1945 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Charles J. Prestia | New Britain | Democratic | 1945–1947 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Frances B. Redick | Newington | Republican | 1947–1949 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Winifred McDonald | Waterbury | Democratic | 1949–1951 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Alice K. Leopold | Weston | Republican | 1951–1953 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Charles B. Keats | Bridgeport | Republican | 1953–1955 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | 60px | Mildred P. Allen | Hartford | Republican | 1955–1959 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Ella Grasso | Windsor Locks | Democratic | 1959–1971 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Gloria Schaffer | Woodbridge | Democratic | 1971–1978 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | Henry S. Cohn | West Hartford | Democratic | 1978–1979 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Barbara B. Kennelly | Hartford | Democratic | 1979–1982 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | Maura L. Melley | Wethersfield | Democratic | 1982–1983 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | Julia Tashjian | Windsor | Democratic | 1983–1991 |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | | Pauline R. Kezer | Plainville | Republican | 1991–1995 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | Miles S. Rapoport | West Hartford | Democratic | 1995–1999 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Susan Bysiewicz | Middletown | Democratic | 1999–2011 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Denise Merrill | Mansfield | Democratic | 2011–2022 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | | Mark Kohler | North Haven | Democratic | 2022–2023 |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | 60px | Stephanie Thomas | Norwalk | Democratic | 2023–present |}

==See also== * Attorney General of Connecticut

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.cslib.org/agencies/SecretaryofState.htm List of past Secretaries of the State of Connecticut], from the Connecticut State Library

{{U.S. State Secretaries of State}} {{Connecticut Constitutional Officers}}

Category:Secretaries of the state of Connecticut Category:1639 establishments in Connecticut