Virginia State Corporation Commission
| Virginia State Corporation Commission | |
| General information | |
| Office Type: | Nonpartisan |
| Office website: | Official Link |
| Compensation: | $206,216 |
| 2026 FY Budget: | $612,024,004 |
| Total Seats: | 3 |
| Term limits: | None |
| Structure | |
| Length of term: | 6 years |
| Authority: | Virginia Constitution, Article IX, Section 1 |
| Leadership: | Jehmal Hudson |
| Selection Method: | Elected by the General Assembly |
| Other Virginia Executive Offices | |
| Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission | |
The Virginia State Corporation Commission is a constitutional, three-member commission within the Virginia state government. The commissioners are appointed by the Virginia General Assembly to serve terms of six years.[1] The commission is responsible for handling all charters "of domestic corporations and all licenses of foreign corporations to do business" within the commonwealth.[2]
Current officeholder
The current officeholders are:
- Kelsey Bagot (nonpartisan)
- Jehmal Hudson (nonpartisan)
- Samuel Towell (nonpartisan)
The chair position rotates annually among the commissioners on February 1. [3]
Authority
The Virginia State Corporation Commission is established by Article IX, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution:
| There shall be a permanent commission which shall be known as the State Corporation Commission and which shall consist of three members |
Qualifications
Article IX, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution stipulates that at least one member of the commission must possess the qualifications prescribed for judges of courts of record.
Appointments
Commissioners are elected by the Virginia General Assembly for terms of six years. If the General Assembly does not fill a vacant position, the governor may appoint an interim officeholder. The interim officeholder serves a limited term expiring thirty days after the start of the following legislative session unless the General Assembly approves the appointment before that time.[4]
Vacancies
Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches the constitutional or statutory text that details the process of filling vacancies for a state executive office. That information for the Virginia State Corporation Commission has not yet been added. After extensive research, we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.
Duties
The commissions duties are addressed in Title 12.1, Chapter 3, Section 12 of the Code of Virginia:[5]
"... Except as may be otherwise prescribed by law, the Commission shall be charged with the duty of administering the laws made for the regulation and control of corporations doing business in this Commonwealth. Subject to such criteria and other requirements as may be prescribed by law, the Commission shall have the power and be charged with the duty of regulating the rates, charges, services, and facilities of all public service companies...."
Divisions
Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Virginia State Corporation Commission has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.
State budget
- See also: Virginia state budget and finances
The budget for the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Fiscal Year 2026 was $612,024,004.[6]
Compensation
- See also: Compensation of state executive officers
2023
In 2023, the commissioners received a salary of $206,216, according to the Open the Books.[7]
2022
In 2022, the commissioners received a salary of $196,222, according to the Open the Books.[8]
2021
In 2021, the commissioners received a salary of $184,838, according to the Open the Books.[9]
Noteworthy events
Court rules that SCC is exempt from FOIA laws (2011)
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled in the 2011 case of Christian v. SCC that the Virginia Freedom of Information Act does not apply to the state corporation commission. The court ruled that since the SCC's authority comes not from the legislature but from the Virginia Constitution, it is not considered a public body and is therefore exempt from public records law.[10][11]
Historical officeholders
There have been 37 corporation commissioners since 1903.[3]
| List of commissioners, 1903-Present | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Tenure | |||
| 1 | Henry Fairfax | 1903-1905 | |||
| 2 | Beverley T. Crump | 1903-1907 | |||
| 3 | Henry C. Stuart | 1903-1908 | |||
| 4 | Joseph E. Willard | 1905-1910 | |||
| 5 | Robert R. Prentis | 1907-1916 | |||
| 6 | William F. Rhea | 1908-1925 | |||
| 7 | J.R. Wingfield | 1910-1918 | |||
| 8 | C.B. Garnett | 1910-1918 | |||
| 9 | Alexander Forward | 1918-1923 | |||
| 10 | Robert E. Williams | 1918-1919 | |||
| 11 | S.L. Lupton | 1918-1919 | |||
| 12 | Berkley D. Adams | 1919-1928 | |||
| 13 | Oscar L. Shewmake | 1923-1924 | |||
| 14 | H. Lester Hooker | 1924-1972 | |||
| 15 | Louis S. Epes | 1925-1929 | |||
| 16 | William Meade Fletcher | 1928-1943 | |||
| 17 | George C. Peery | 1929-1933 | |||
| 18 | Thomas W. Ozlin | 1933-1944 | |||
| 19 | Harvey B. Apperson | 1944-1947 | |||
| 20 | Robert O. Norris | 1944 | |||
| 21 | L. McCarthy Downs | 1944-1949 | |||
| 22 | W. Marshall King | 1947-1957 | |||
| 23 | Ralph T. Catterall | 1949-1973 | |||
| 24 | Jesse W. Dillon | 1957-1972 | |||
| 25 | Preston C. Shannon | 1972-1996 | |||
| 26 | Junie L. Bradshaw | 1972-1985 | |||
| 27 | Thomas P. Harwood, Jr. | 1973-1992 | |||
| 28 | Elizabeth B. Lacy | 1985-1988 | |||
| 29 | Theodore V. Morrison, Jr. | 1989-2007 | |||
| 30 | Hullihen Williams Moore | 1992-2004 | |||
| 31 | Clinton Miller | 1996-2006 | |||
| 32 | Mark Christie | 2004-2021 | |||
| 33 | Judith Jagdmann | 2006-Present | |||
| 34 | James Dimitri | 2008-2018 | |||
| 35 | Patricia L. West | 2019-2020 | |||
| 36 | Jehmal Hudson | 2020-Present | |||
| 37 | Angela Navarro | 2021-2022 | |||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Virginia State Corporation Commission. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
Contact
Physical address:
Tyler Building
1300 E. Main St.
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Mailing address:
State Corporation Commission
P.O. Box 1197
Richmond, Virginia 23218
Phone: (804) 371-9733
See also
| Virginia | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Virginia General Assembly, "Code of Virginia Title 12.1," accessed January 28, 2021
- ↑ Virginia General Assembly, "Code of Virginia: Powers and Duties Generally," accessed January 28, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedabout - ↑ Virginia Mercury, "Northam appoints first African American judge to State Corporation Commission," June 9, 2020
- ↑ Virginia Legislative Information Services, "Code of Virginia," accessed January 28, 2021
- ↑ Commonwealth of Virginia, "Budget Bill - HB30," accessed January 23, 2025
- ↑ Open the Books, "Virginia State Employees," accessed January 23, 2025
- ↑ Open the Books, "Virginia State Employees," accessed January 23, 2025
- ↑ Open the Books, "Virginia State Employees," accessed January 23, 2025
- ↑ Washington Post, "Cuccinelli says attorney general’s office is exempt from Virginia public records laws," May 19, 2013
- ↑ Justia US Law, "Christian v. State Corp. Comm'n," accessed January 28, 2021
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