Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Privacy protected and other protected information is considered confidential and restricted from public access for 75 years. It may be necessary for an archivist to review any unprocessed, modern record collections (those collections less than 75 years old) that may contain confidential information before the records can be used by patrons for research purposes or before any copies of records can be made for patrons. If you are planning to use these records, please contact Archives Reference Services for more details before planning your research trip.

If a request for copies is made for material containing confidential information, it is understood that this information will be redacted from the copies, if it is possible to do so. If redaction is not possible, the records will be withheld. Researchers must also agree that no direct or indirect contact will be made with the individuals to whom any personal or confidential information relates. Improper use and/or re-disclosure of privacy protected information is a breach of confidentiality which could result in the loss of access to the archival collections housed and maintained by The Library of Virginia, and could result in legal penalties (Code of Virginia, 18.2-186.3).

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Records of the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety, 1981-1993 (bulk 1989-1993). Accession 34713, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Transferred by the Office of the Secretary of Public Safety, Ninth Street Office Building, Richmond, Virginia, July 1994.

Processing Information

This collection has been processed using minimal processing standards: the original arrangement has been maintained, the container list is brief and simple, and the records have not been refoldered and fasteners have not been removed.

Material found loose in the boxes was foldered and given a title determined by the archivist. In cases where folder titles were inaccurate, the titles have been corrected to more adequately describe the material.

Historical Information

In 1970, the Governor's Management Commission Study recommended the creation of six "Deputy Governors" to assist the Chief Executive in his managerial duties. Compatible functions of government were grouped under these administrative heads, who would serve as the Governors top management team or "secretariats," as they are called now. Governor Linwood Holton's top priority for the 1972 session of the General Assembly was a proposal for a Governor's Cabinet, reorganizing state agencies into six major departments, each headed by a secretary appointed by the governor. Transportation and public safety was one of these six departments. The office of Secretary of Transportation and Public Safety was created on April 8, 1972, by an act passed by the General Assembly. On April 12, 1976, the Legislature established separate secretariats for transportation and for public safety, effective July 1, 1976.

In 1980, Governor John N. Dalton named T. Rodman Layman, an Alcoholic Beverage and Contol Board Commissioner (1970-1980), to succeed H. Selwyn Smith as Secretary of Public Safety. Layman served until the end of Dalton's term in January 1982. Governor-elect Charles S. Robb appointed Franklin E. White, a former criminial justice advisor to President Jimmmy Carter, as Secretary of Public Safety.

On July 1, 1984, the secretariats of transportation and public safety were combined again. As a result of this partial reorganization of state government, Secretary White assumed the duties of the Secretary of Transportation. White resigned in June 1985 and was replaced by Andrew Fogarty, Governor Robb's Secretary of Transportation from 1982-1984, who served until the end of the Robb administration. In December 1985, Governor-elect Gerald L. Baliles, picked Vivian E. Watts, a northern Virginia legislator, as Secretary of Transportation and Public Safety. Watts served until the end of Baliles' term in 1990.

On February 22, 1990, the Secretary of Transportation and Public Safety was again divided into separate secretariats. Governor L. Douglas Wilder appointed Colonel Robert L. Suthard, the superintendent of the Virginia State Police, as the Sectretary of Public Safety. Suthard resigned in December 1991 amid allegations that he violated the state's conflict-of-interest law by taking an expenses-paid trip to Japan and a cash gift in April 1991. In March 1992 Wilder appointed O. Randolph Rollins, a Richmond attorney and Deputy Secretary of Public Safety, as Secretary of Public Safety. Rollins served until the end of Governor Wilder's term in January 1994.

Scope and Content

Contains correspondence, subject files and reports created and collected by the Virginia Office of the Secretary of Public Safety. The files relate mostly to the agencies and boards that were under the Secretary's supervision. Files in this collection document the activities of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Department of Corrections, Department of Criminal Justice Services, Military Advisory Council, and the Virginia State Police. Many files in this accession relate to the cleanup and regulation of Cheatham Annex, a Emergency Fuel Storage Facility that was named an EPA Superfund site. Files pertaining to a variety of smaller agencies, boards, and committees related to public safety are also included.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series: