Secretary of State of Illinois
The Illinois Secretary of State is one of the state’s six elected executive offices. The office keeps state records, laws, the Great Seal, and runs the state library and archives. It also handles business registrations, lobbying registrations, notaries public, and securities regulation.
As the driver licensing and vehicle registration authority, the secretary of state issues driver licenses and registers vehicles for Illinois residents. This makes the office the state’s de facto DMV, a duty shared by only a few states.
The secretary also oversees the State Archives and the State Library and is the custodian of the Illinois State Capitol and other state buildings.
The Illinois Secretary of State Police, created in 1913, enforces the Vehicle Code, investigates identity theft and vehicle theft, regulates school buses, handles statewide traffic enforcement, and provides law enforcement for all secretary of state facilities. It also policing the Capitol Complex.
The secretary’s offices are in three buildings in the Capitol Complex in Springfield: the Howlett Building (driver services), Norton Building (State Archives), and Brooks Library (State Library). The Howlett Building is named for former secretary Michael Howlett; the Brooks Library is named for poet Gwendolyn Brooks.
To be eligible, a candidate must be a United States citizen, at least 25 years old, and a Illinois resident for at least three years before the election. The secretary is third in the line of succession to the governor, after the lieutenant governor and the attorney general.
Current secretary: Alexi Giannoulias (Democrat), who has served since January 9, 2023. He followed Jesse White, who served six terms and was the first African American in the role. White is the longest-serving Illinois secretary, and his predecessor was George Ryan (1991–1999), who later became governor and was involved in a driver-license bribery scandal.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 09:57 (CET).