The Illinois Secretary of State is the official government keeper of official records, laws, and the Great Seal of the state of Illinois. These basic, but important, duties have not been changed since Illinois became a state, which occurred in the year 1818. According to the legal statutes of the state of Illinois, which are similar to what is generally accepted as duties by other states, the Illinois secretary of state is also expected to perform any other duties that are prescribed by law.

To be eligible as secretary of state, the person must be able to legally take his or her oath of office, must be a United States citizen, must be an absolute minimum of twenty-five years old, and must be a resident of Illinois for at least three years prior to appointment. The Secretary of State's building is in Springfield, Illinois, which is the state capital of Illinois.

Most of the Secretary of State's workers are assigned to motor vehicles, giving and checking licenses, etc. The reason for this is that the majority of tasks the Illinois Secretary of State is responsible for involve licensees and DUI laws.

As of 2007, the man currently serving as Illinois secretary of state is Jesse White, who is in his third term at the position. He was first elected in 1998, and has won two reelections since then. He is the 37th Illinois secretary of state and was the first African American elected to that particular political post.

While the demands of the job may increase in the future, and are no small matter with a giant city like Chicago in their state, most of the secretary of state's responsibilities will be around driving, licenses and other similar matters. This is no small job, and with modern technology is worthy of the attention from a government official like the Illinois secretary of state.