Chief Clerk of the California State Assembly


The Chief Clerk of the California Assembly is a nonpartisan elected officer of the California State Assembly. The Chief Clerk serves as the chief parliamentarian of the 80-member house. The clerk is also charged with maintaining the records and votes of the Assembly, engrossing and enrolling bills, providing members with analyses of bills on third reading, amending legislation, and publishing the bills, journals, files, and histories of the lower house.
Historically, persons who have served as Chief Clerk have possessed an advanced degree when they were elected.
In California, three officers are elected every two years when the Assembly organizes: Chief Clerk, Chief Sergeant-at-Arms, and Chaplain. These officers are not members of the house and serve the legislature in a nonpartisan capacity.
The current Chief Clerk is E. Dotson Wilson, who was first elected in 1992.
This is a list of Chief Clerks of the California Assembly.
To keep the numbering system correct, there are instances where a clerk has had a hiatus between terms of service. Therefore, the numbering of Chief Clerks in column one fluctuates based upon the fact that some clerks served previously. Their original "clerk number" is retained on the left with an asterisk to indicate why it is out of numeric sequence.
Chief ClerkTerm of Service
1. E.H. Tharp1849–1850
2. John Nugent1850
3. George O. McMullin1851
4. Blantin McAlpin1852–1853
5. J.G. Stebbins1853
4.* Blanton McAlpin1854
6. J.M. Anderson1855–1856
7. William Campbell1857
8. Joseph W. Scoby1858
9. Caleb Gilman1859
6.* J.M. Anderson1860–1861
  • 10. John Sedgwick1862
    11. H.G. Worthington1863
    12. Osgood C. Wheeler1864
    13. Marcus D. Boruck1866
    14. John A. Eagon1868
    15. Robert Ferral1870
    13.* Marcus D. Boruck1872
  • 16. D.L. Loafborrow1874
    15.* Robert Ferral1876
  • 17. Robert C. Page1878
    18. C.E. Gunn1880
    19. George E. McStay1881
    20. M.C. Haley1883
    21. Frank D. Ryan1885–1888
    22. Edward E. Leake1889
    23. H.A. Mason1891
    24. George W. Peckham1893
    25. S.J. Duckworth1895–1898
    26. C.W. Kyle1899
    27. Clio Lloyd1901–1909
    28. L.B. Mallory1911–1916
    29. B.O. Boothby1917–1920
    30. Jerome B. Kavanaugh1921
    31. Arthur Ohnimus1923–1937
    32. James G. Smyth1937–1939
    33. Jack Carl Greenburg1939–1941
    31.* Arthur Ohnimus1941–1963 Note: Longest serving clerk in history: 37 years
    34. James D. Driscoll1963–1986
    35. R. Brian Kidney1987–1991
    36. Lawrence A. Murman1991
    37. E. Dotson Wilson1992–present