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

Function: CONSTITUENT SERVICES
The records created in support of this function directly reflect the views, goals, and needs of
constituents in the legislator's home district. This series provides a revealing and human
look at a legislator's efforts to aid his/her constituents. Many legislators spend as much
time and effort assisting constituents as developing policy and passing legislation.
BUSINESS PROCESSES RECORDS SERIES EXAMPLES RECORDS MANAGEMENT
SUGGESTIONS
Casework and constituent
services require
substantial amounts of
work and staff time for:
Processing and
logging a high
volume of mail in the
Correspondence
Management System
or other system.
Managing and
maintaining a
response library.
Generating statistical
reports.
Responding to
constituent policy
"issue" mail/e-mails.
Responding to and
coordinating
constituent requests
for assistance.
Correspondence and E-mail
Letters and attachments
passing between the
legislators, citizens of Texas
and the public at large.
The correspondence may
respond to legislative
requests for information;
requests for assistance from a
legislator; concerns or
opinions regarding proposed
or pending legislation or state,
local or national issues.
Issue Correspondence and
E-mail
Many offices establish a
central file for incoming
letters. These letters should
be logged into the
Correspondence Management
System, indexed according to
the subject of the letter, and
assigned a system-generated
index number used for filing.
Original letters should be
retained.
Offices should generate and
maintain a list of common
subject and indexing terms in
order to maintain
consistency.
The office should
electronically backup the CMS
files and run reports each
legislative session.
E-mail messages should be
logged into the
Correspondence Management
System, printed onto paper
and filed similarly to letters.
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