Begin with the End in Mind: A Records Management & Archives ...

4.3 Legislative Records: Creation and Active Use
Although there are 181 Texas state representatives—each with different constituencies,
varying numbers of staff and multiple district and Capitol offices—all state legislators carry
out common functions. This makes the task of records management easier because one way to
manage records is by function. These functions easily translate into records series, defined
as "a group of similar records that are arranged according to a filing system and that are
related as the result of being created, received or used in the same activity."
There are four main functions for elected state representatives, each of which generates
specific types of records:
‣ Legislative Activities
‣ Constituent Services
‣ Press and Public Relations
‣ Office Administration
The Records Retention Schedule may not classify some of the records created in support of
these functions as archival; therefore, the Texas State Archives does not require their transfer.
As the records life cycle demonstrates, however, these records still require a final disposition
action (possibly destruction), so please refer to the Records Retention Schedule for guidance
in handling such records.
The charts on the following pages will aid in identifying and managing these records.
Specifically, the charts:
list only the records that are required to be transferred to the Texas State Archives.
describe the four legislative functions.
describe the type of records and "files series" that are created in support of the
function.
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