WISCONSIN BLUE BOOK 1987-1988


   Organization: The Office of the Secretary of State is headed by an elected
secretary of state.
From the beginning of statehood until 1970, the secretary of state was elected
in the general
election in the even-numbered years for a term of 2 years. Under a constitutional
amendment
ratified in 1967 and effective since the 1970 election, the secretary of
state is elected to serve a 4-
year term.
  The Office of the Secretary of State is organized into 3 program divisions:
the Corporations
Division, the Government Records Division, and the Uniform Commercial Code
Division.
These program divisions are supported by the Administrative Services Division
and the Legal
Services Section.



OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE


        Corporations        Government Records     Uniform Commercial
          Division               DivisionCode                           
Administratve Services
                                                        Division        
      Division

 SECRETARY OF STATE



   Agency Responsibility: Under the direction of the secretary of state,
the Office of the Secretary
 of State provides many services critical to Wisconsin's business, legal
and financial communities;
 other state agencies; and the general public. These services include: incorporating
Wisconsin
 businesses and non-stock corporations, forming cooperatives and limited
partnerships, qualify-
 ing foreign corporations and limited partnerships to transact business within
the state, examin-
 ing and filing annual reports of domestic and foreign corporations, maintaining
and certifying
 Uniform Commercial Code documents (records of business indebtedness), issuing
notary public
 commissions, issuing notary authentications and apostilles, registering
tradenames and trade-
 marks, regulating the activities of lobbyists and their employers, and recording
annexations and
 charter ordinances of villages and cities. The secretary of state also serves
on the Board of
 Commissioners of Public Lands and the Badger Board.
 Unit Functions:
   The Secretary of State directs and supervises the administrative assistants,
operations man-
ager and other staff in the successful completion of all program responsibilities
assigned to the
office.
  The Corporations Division administers the program responsibilities assigned
primarily under
statute Chapters 179, 180, 181 and 185. The division staff examines and files
charter documents
to form domestic business, service, statutory close, and domestic nonstock
corporations; cooper-
atives, and limited partnerships; qualifies foreign business corporations;
registers foreign limited
partnerships; examines and files documents amending charter documents of
domestic corpora-
tions, foreign corporations, and limited partnerships; examines and files
documents effecting


556