Appointments Office

Texas Governor Rick Perry:

An Inventory of Governor Rick Perry Appointments Office Records at the Texas State Archives, 1981, 1989-2015, bulk 2001-2014

Overview

Creator: Texas. Governor (2000-2015 : Perry)
Title: Governor Rick Perry Appointments Office records
Dates: 1981, 1989-2015, bulk 2001-2014
Abstract: The Texas governor appoints a large number of state officials (with the consent of the Texas Senate) and fills vacancies in state and district offices (except vacancies in the legislature). The Appointments Office is responsible for naming individuals to serve on state boards and commissions. Texas Governor Rick Perry Appointment Office records include application forms; letters of recommendation, appointment, resignation, and thanks; letters from Governor Perry to the Senate requesting confirmation of appointments; senate confirmation reports; appointment letters from Governor Perry to the secretary of state; résumés or curriculum vitae; photographs; judicial appointment questionnaires; forms authorizing the State Bar of Texas or Commission on Judicial Conduct to release information about an appointee to the Governor’s Office; state appointment disclosure forms; news clippings or other publications about applicants and their accomplishments; articles, briefs, opinions, and other writings authored by applicants; and other materials concerning applicants for appointed positions during Governor Rick Perry’s administration. Materials date 1981, 1989-2015, bulk 2001-2014.
Quantity: 122.75 cubic ft. and 56.82 MB (76 files)
Language: These materials are written predominately in English with scattered Spanish.
Repository: Texas State Archives

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Other Finding Aids

A description of non-electronic records described in this finding aid are available at https://txarchives.org/tslac/finding_aids/30200.xml.

Organization of the Records

The records are organized into four series:

Appointment application files, 1995-2014, bulk 2001-2014, 122 cubic ft. (paper)(Restricted)
Senate confirmation reports, 1995, 2001-2013, 0.75 cubic ft. (paper)
Boards and nominees spreadsheets, 1981, 1989-2015, bulk 2001-2014, 53.19 MB (10 files)(digital)
Office files, 2006-2009, 2011-2014, 3.63 MB (66 files) (digital)

Agency History

The governor of Texas appoints the secretary of state, the adjutant general, executive directors of several agencies, members of numerous state boards and commissions, ship pilots and pilot boards at ports, and regents of universities; and fills vacancies in district attorney offices and judgeships, and various other posts. Most of these appointments require the advice and consent of two-thirds of the senate. The Governor’s Office then notifies the Office of the Secretary of State, who is responsible for issuing commissions to appointees. According to the Guide to Texas State Agencies, 11th Edition (2001), and also Governor Perry’s website, in a four-year period the governor may make around 3,000 appointments.

The Appointments Office is responsible for naming individuals to serve on state boards and commissions. The following persons were Appointments Office directors under Governor Perry (dates are approximate): Dealey Herndon (2001), Ken Anderson (2002-2008), Teresa Spears (2009-2012), Bech Bruun (2013), and Darrell Davila (2014). The Office included the following staff members when Governor Rick Perry left the Texas Governor’s Office in January 2015: Darrell Davila (director), Trayce Stoenescu (assistant to the director), Mary Fraser and Gaby Fuentes (deputy directors), Carol Treadway (appointments manager), Christina Hutchinson (information systems coordinator), and Jill Patterson (receptionist/assistant).

(Sources include: Guide to Texas State Agencies, 11th edition (2001); Office of the Governor Workforce Summary Document prepared by the State Auditor’s Office, January 2015 (http://www.hr.sao.state.tx.us/Publications/WFSummaries/WorkforceAnalysis/2014/301-2014.pdf), accessed on December 28, 2015; Capitol Complex telephone directories (2001-2014); the contents of the records; and the Texas Governor’s Office website during Governor Perry’s term at http://wayback.archive-it.org/414/20141117021000/http://governor.state.tx.us/appointments/, dated November 17, 2014.)

Scope and Content of the Records

The Texas governor appoints a large number of state officials (with the consent of the Texas Senate) and fills vacancies in state and district offices (except vacancies in the legislature). The Appointments Office is responsible for naming individuals to serve on state boards and commissions. Texas Governor Rick Perry Appointment Office records comprise paper and electronic records, including appointment application files, senate confirmation reports, boards and nominees spreadsheets, and office files, dating 1981, 1989-2015, bulk 2001-2014.

Appointment application files include application forms; letters of recommendation, appointment, resignation, and thanks; letters from Governor Perry to the state senate requesting confirmation of appointments (if required); appointment letters from Governor Perry to the Secretary of State; résumés or curriculum vitae; photographs; judicial appointment questionnaires; forms authorizing the State Bar of Texas or Commission on Judicial Conduct to release information about an appointee to the Governor’s Office (plus results of these inquiries); state appointment disclosure forms (whereby appointees may choose whether or not to disclose to the public their home address, home telephone number, social security number, and information revealing whether they have family members); news clippings or other publications about applicants and their accomplishments (including web pages); articles, briefs, opinions, and other writings authored by applicants; and other materials concerning applicants for appointed positions during Governor Rick Perry’s administration. Correspondents include applicants, legislators, other state officials, members of the applicant’s local community, and professional colleagues. Appointment application files date 1995-2014, bulk 2001-2014. Individuals submitted applications to the Governor’s Appointments Office for appointment to a broad range of positions including vacant judgeships, state boards and commissions, certain agency heads, university regents, river authorities, and branch pilots. See the list of all entities to which the governor makes appointments or nominations, at http://gov.texas.gov/appointments/positions/home (accessed May 20, 2016). Files exist both for appointees and applicants who were not appointed to an office. A number of the files are for persons appointed by Perry’s predecessor, Governor George W. Bush, and carried over into Perry’s governorship. If the individual was still in an appointed position at the time that these records were transferred to the Texas State Archives (December 2014 – March 2015), there is probably NOT a file for that person in these records; the file was most likely kept by the succeeding governor’s office (Governor Greg Abbott).

(Click here to read more of the Scope and Content Note)

Restrictions and Requirements

Restrictions on Access
Records described in this finding aid may contain information that is confidential under the Texas Public Information Act (PIA) (Texas Government Code, Chapter 552) or other statutes. Restricted information, as outlined in the statutes, applies to both physical and electronic records. As laws change, statutory restrictions may be added to or removed from these records. See our Texas Public Information Act and Researching in the State Archives web page for the more common types of restrictions found in state government records.

Requests for materials held within the State Archives, whether a Research Request or Public Information Act Request, must be submitted via this form: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/sites/default/files/public/tslac/ref/Texas_State_Archive_Material_Request_Form.pdf. A Research Request is sufficient for requesting most State Archives materials. While a PIA Request is always an option, a PIA Request for State Archives materials is required only if a researcher does not agree to the redaction or removal of restricted government information (see: Texas Gov’t Code Chapter 552).

For further assistance with accessing materials within the State Archives, contact the Reference Desk: archinfo@tsl.texas.gov or 512-463-5455.

Restrictions on Use
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).

The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by the records. The listing is not exhaustive.

Texas State Archives
		Texas Governor George W. Bush Appointments Office records, 1946, 1955, 1959-2000, bulk 1994-2000, 118.7 cubic ft. (Restricted)
		Texas Governor George W. Bush Press Office, Appointment news releases, 1992-2000, undated, bulk 1995-2000, 12.4 cubic ft.
		Texas Governor Rick Perry Press Office records, Event files, 2001-2015, 0.1 cubic ft. and 479.87 MB (12,691 files) (Restricted) [including appointment news releases]
		Texas Legislature, Senate Nominations Committee records, 1981-1990, bulk 1983-1990, 11.3 cubic ft. (Restricted)
		Texas Secretary of State election registers (a.k.a. appointment registers), 1837-2007, 32.15 cubic ft. (originals), 36 reels microfilm (duplicates)
Publications
		Texas Register, 2000-2014 [Gubernatorial appointments are published in this publication, produced twice a week by the Office of the Secretary of State since 1976.] See index at http://www.sos.texas.gov/texreg/annualindexes/pdf.shtml, under Index of Non-Rulemaking Notices: Office of the Governor – Appointments.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation
(Identify the item and cite the series), Texas Governor Rick Perry Appointments Office records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information
Accession numbers: 2015/067, 2015/117

Paper records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Office of the Governor on December 19, 2014 thru March 2015. Electronic records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Office of the Governor on January 29, 2015.

Processing Information
Processed by Tony Black, June 2016