'From the Vault' video series will help inform public of activities at Secretary of State's office

A new video series launched on the Kansas Secretary of State’s official YouTube channel on Friday with the first two episodes already published. The series titled, ‘From the Vault’, will be “an occasional video series produced by the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office from the former vault of the Kansas Historical Society in Memorial Hall.” According to the video description of the pilot episode, the series will educate Kansans about “the functions of the Secretary of State, ranging from business services to conduct elections. And because it is coming from a vault that once protected state treasurers, there may be a few nuggets of Kansas history sprinkled in the episodes.”

The first episode, ‘About the Series’, is hosted by two men who introduce themselves as John and Thomas. The episode, which lasts less than two minutes, introduces viewers to what the series is going to be about. 

“We’re launching this new video series to inform the public about activities here in the Secretary of State’s office,” John says in the video. “Most people are aware that the Secretary of State is the Chief Administrator of elections in Kansas. A few may realize that the largest division is actually our business services division. Over the coming weeks, we’ll dive into these subjects at more length to explain what our office does and how it affects the lives of Kansans.” 

Thomas added that a few history lessons will be added along the way to “keep it interesting.” 

The second episode, ‘Business Services’, is also less than two minutes long. In the episode, John and Thomas go back and forth providing a brief overview of the business services provided by the Secretary of State’s office.

Thomas states that the Secretary of State’s office files and maintains records of Kansas businesses. John adds that this includes corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, non-profits, and limited liability partnerships. 

Thomas further notes that they provide supporting documents including mergers, disillusions, cancellations, withdrawals, and information reports.

“Our office will also issue authority for foreign businesses to conduct business within the state. And by ‘foreign’ we mean non-Kansas-based businesses,” John says. 

Nearly 424,000 filings were processed in the past year alone by the business service division, averaging around 1,700 filings per day. A total of around 260,000 businesses are on file with the office.

“The most common interaction businesses have with our office is filing their information reports–formerly the annual reports,” Thomas said. “Now this is done every other year instead of the annual basis, and depends upon when your business was formed. If your business was formed in an even year, you will file every even year.”

To learn more about the Secretary of State’s office, you can go to their website sos.ks.gov