Official Website of the
Secretary of American Samoa
Modernization Project
Our goal is to bring the services offered by the Secretary of American Samoa in line with the modern conveniences that has become commonplace today.
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The most important aspect of our efforts to modernize our office is steeped in our ability to retain and easily access information. Information that can be easily and efficiently stored and just as easily and much more efficiently and quickly accessed.
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In June of 2021, the Secretary of American Samoa received a grant award of $243,000 to make our modernization goals a reality.
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See the goals we have set to help us accomplish our mission.
Modernization Goals
Mission Parameters
One of the greatest challenges any organization faces is the preservation and utilization of institutional memory, the collective knowledge, experience, and organizational history. The most relevant, in light of the Secretary's duties, is the retention of documents, data, and knowledge that get lost with the passage of time and make it available to be utilized so we can remain competitive and nimble in our decision making process.
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The greatest challenges facing any organization, be it governmental or private sector, is the acquisition, preservation and utilization of institutional memory. We are working diligently to develop and then, more importantly, maintain these capabilities ASG-wide.
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Standardization Goals
Experience has taught us that each department has the tendency to reinvent the wheel each time a new administration takes the reins of government. More often then not, this leads to inefficiencies that, over a period of time, tends to accumulate and ultimately bog down governmental processes. The best remedy to this is to standardize our internal processes and methodologies.
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Standardization is the process is laying out a framework wherein ASG departments and its employees are given a set of tasks to carry out their duties and responsibilities to achieve the same ideal result with minimal resources and in less time. This helps in reducing errors and common oversights and leads to efficiency in government services.
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From the perspective of the Secretary of American Samoa, experience has also taught us that we needed to standardize the process by which governmental agencies promulgate their rules and regulations. Not only have we developed tools to assist these agencies, we are also working hand in hand with them to update their rules.
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Online Repository
For 41 years, the American Samoa Administrative Code, the official reporter of all the rules, regulations, and procedures under which government agencies operate, was not published. This lead to massive inefficiencies in government operations that in turn translated to poor customer service.
To remedy this problem, we have published the American Samoa Administrative Code - 2023 Edition. This would help the people of American Samoa better understand the rules that apply in their dealings with government agencies. Conversely, the 2023 Edition of the Administrative Code would have updated, concise, and accurate rules at their fingertips to help them better serve the People of American Samoa.
Also included in our Repository are the Revised Constitution of American Samoa, American Samoa Code Annotated, Executive Orders, and the American Samoa Public Laws.
Notary Courses Online and On-Demand (coming soon)
November 15, 2022 marked an important milestone when our office held its very first Notary Public Course online. We held another online course in March 22, 2023 and with well over 90 percent approval of the online offering, we will continue to conduct the Notary Public Course online.
Next on our agenda is to offer Notary Public Courses On-Demand, so please stay tuned.
Other Services Applied for and Delivered Online
One of the services we offer is to certify and/or verify public documents to used in foreign countries that are signatories of the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents.
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As local laws allow, we will continue to work on and expand upon the services we offer to the public.