Tennessee Secretary of State Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Secretary of State of Tennessee
Flag of the State of Tennessee
Great Seal of the State of Tennessee
Incumbent Tre Hargett since January 15, 2009
Department of State
Appointer	Tennessee General Assembly
Term length	Four years
Constituting instrument	Tennessee State Constitution
Formation	1792
First holder	Daniel Smith
Website	Tennessee Secretary of State website

The Tennessee Secretary of State is an important job created by the Tennessee State Constitution. This person helps manage many important parts of the state government in Tennessee. The person holding this job right now is Tre Hargett.

How the Secretary of State Is Chosen
- What Is a Joint Convention?
- Term Length and Comparison to Other States
What the Secretary of State Does
- Key Responsibilities
History of the Office
See Also

How the Secretary of State Is Chosen

According to Tennessee's Constitution from 1870, the Secretary of State is chosen for a four-year term. This choice is made by the General Assembly in a special meeting called a joint convention.

What Is a Joint Convention?

A joint convention means that all 99 state Representatives and 33 state Senators meet together. They act as one group and each person casts a single vote. To win the election, a candidate needs at least 67 votes out of the total 132.

Since this job is chosen based on political parties, the party with the most members in both parts of the General Assembly will pick their candidate. For a long time after the Civil War, the Secretary of State was always a Democrat. But in 2009, the Republicans gained more seats and have chosen the Secretary of State since then.

Term Length and Comparison to Other States

The Secretary of State's term usually starts and ends around the same time as the President of the United States's term. This is different from the governor of Tennessee's election cycle.

Tennessee's way of choosing its Secretary of State is quite unique. In most other U.S. states, the Secretary of State is either voted for by the public or picked by the state's governor. Also, in Tennessee, the Secretary of State is not next in line to become governor if something happens to the current governor. The speakers of the Senate and House are first in line.

The Secretary of State is one of only three "constitutional officers" in Tennessee, besides the governor. Most other states have more. The other two officers, the State Treasurer and the Comptroller of the Treasury, are chosen for two-year terms. There are no limits on how many terms a person can serve in any of these jobs. The office led by the Secretary of State is called the "Tennessee Department of State."

What the Secretary of State Does

Because the state legislature chooses the Secretary of State, this office is considered part of the legislative branch of government in Tennessee, not the executive branch.

Key Responsibilities

The Secretary of State's office has many important duties, including:

Helping new corporations get started.
Registering trademarks and service marks for businesses.
Managing elections across the state.
Publishing the Tennessee Blue Book every two years. This book is an official guide to all parts of the Tennessee State Government.
Publishing other state documents, including all new laws passed by the General Assembly.
Overseeing charitable groups and their fundraising.
Managing the state library and archives.
Running the state's Economic Commission on Women.

To handle these tasks, the Tennessee Department of State has several administrative law judges. The Secretary of State earns a yearly salary of $222,252, which is one of the highest for this position in the country.

History of the Office

Some historians believe that during the American Civil War, Edward H. East, who was Secretary of State, became governor. This happened when Andrew Johnson, who was the military governor, became Vice President of the United States in 1865. East supposedly served as governor until William "Parson" Brownlow took office. However, the official Tennessee Blue Book does not list East as a governor.

Joe C. Carr served as Secretary of State three times, for a total of 27 years. This makes him the longest-serving Secretary of State. His wife even held the office while he was serving in the military during World War II.

Important Court Case

As the Secretary of State, Joe C. Carr was in charge of elections. Because of this, his name was part of a famous 1962 Supreme Court case called Baker v. Carr. In this case, the Supreme Court decided that voting districts for the U.S. House and state legislatures must have roughly equal populations. This was to make sure everyone's vote counted equally, following the "equal protection" rule of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This idea is often called "one person, one vote."

Changes to Bingo Laws

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Secretary of State's office was given the job of giving out licenses for bingo games. Some problems with these licenses led to issues and changes in the office. As a result, bingo became illegal in Tennessee for a time. It is still mostly illegal, but since 2014, it has been allowed as a yearly fundraising event for certain war veteran organizations.

The current Secretary of State, Tre Hargett, has been in office since January 2009. Before this, he was a leader for the minority party in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Past Secretaries of State

Here is a list of people who have held the job of Secretary of State in Tennessee:

Image	Name	Term
	Daniel Smith (Territorial Secretary of Territory South of the River Ohio)	1792–1796
	William Maclin	1796–1807
	Robert Houston	1807–1811
	William Grainger Blount	1811–1815
	William Alexander	1815–1818
	Daniel Graham	1818–1830
	Thomas H. Fletcher	1830–1832
	Samuel G. Smith	1832–1835
	Luke Lea	1835–1839
	John S. Young	1839–1847
	W .B. A. Ramsey	1847–1855
	F. N. W. Burton	1855–1859
	J. E. R. Ray	1859–1862
Edward H. East	Edward H. East (appointed by Andrew Johnson, Military Governor of Tennessee)	1862–1865
	A. J. Fletcher	1865–1870
T. H. Butler	T. H. Butler	1870–1873
	Charles N. Gibbs	1873–1881
	David A. Nunn	1881–1885
	John Allison	1885–1889
	Charles A. Miller	1889–1893
	William S. Morgan	1893–1901
. John W. Morton	John W. Morton	1901–1909
	Hallum W. Goodloe	1909–1913
	R. R. Sneed	1913–1917
	Ike B. Stevens	1917–1921
	Ernest N. Hasten	1921–1937
	Ambrose B. Broadbent	1937–1941
	Joe C. Carr	1941–1944
	Mary Hart Carr (Mrs. Joe C. Carr)	1944–1945
	Joe C. Carr	1945–1949
James H. Cummings	James H. Cummings	1949–1953
	George Edward Friar	1953–1957
	Joe C. Carr	1957–1977
	Gentry Crowell	1977–1989
	Milton P. Rice	1989–1990
	Bryant Millsaps	1990–1993
Riley Darnell	Riley Darnell	1993–2009
Tre Hargett	Tre Hargett	2009–present