Constituent Correspondence
Texas Governor Rick Perry:
An Inventory of Governor Rick Perry Constituent Communication Office Correspondence at the Texas State Archives, 1998-2015, undated, bulk 2001-2014
Note that these records are restricted. See the restrictions statement below for information on accessing the records.
| Organization | History | Scope and Contents | Restrictions | Related Materials | Inventory |
Overview
Creator: Texas. Governor (2000-2015 : Perry)
Title: Governor Rick Perry Constituent Communication Office correspondence
Dates: 1998-2015, undated
Dates: bulk 2001-2014
Abstract: The Constituent Communication Office of the Texas Governor’s Office was responsible for preparing replies to many of the letters written to Governor Rick Perry. These records are correspondence with attachments sent to Governor Perry and responses sent by the Governor’s Office. Dates range from 1998 to 2015 and undated with the bulk of records dating 2001 to 2014.
Quantity: 3 cubic ft. 157 GB (1,557,091 files)
Language: These materials are written in English with a few phrases and letters in Spanish and various other languages.
Other Finding Aids
A description of non-electronic records referenced in this finding aid are available at https://txarchives.org/tslac/finding_aids/80030.xml
Organization of the Records
Exact organization and group naming conventions varied somewhat during Perry’s term. However, all records in this series are organized chronologically by date first, then group.
Agency History
The Constituent Communication Office receives and distributes correspondence (in both print and electronic form) sent to the governor, responds to constituent questions and requests for assistance, and drafts responses to letters regarding issues important to Texans.
Scope and Content of the Records
The Constituent Communication Office of the Texas Governor’s Office was responsible for preparing replies to many of the letters (in print or electronic form) written to Governor Rick Perry. These records are correspondence, phone call documentation, and attachments (including but not limited to artifacts, notes, photographs, publications and reports) sent to Governor Rick Perry by various correspondents, mostly, but not exclusively, constituents. Dates range from 1998 to 2015 and undated with the bulk of records dating 2001 to 2014. Types of letters and subjects include greetings from Governor Perry on anniversaries, births, birthdays, retirements, and weddings of honorees; welcome greetings for special events; letters of support or protest, especially pertaining to executions, immigration, economic concerns, education, vaccination, and environmental issues; letters of appreciation and thanks; letters of recommendation, appointment, and resignation; and requests for auction items for charities. Correspondents include legislators and other elected or appointed officials, corporations, organizations, and the general public. Several major groupings of correspondence are present including general (composed of constituent correspondence), no mail (meaning no response was necessary), STUNS (letters reflecting perceived mental instability on the part of the correspondent), ceremonial (greetings from the Governor in response to special events), letters regarding executions, and form letters on a variety of topics. Other groups separated by correspondent type exist, such as agency head, state representative, and state senator, but are not present for all years.
Correspondence exists in paper and electronic form, although, beginning in 2009, most correspondence is in electronic form only. Analog correspondence has been sampled. Therefore, original correspondence in paper form is no longer present in most cases. Correspondence, including telephone calls, was tracked by the Governors’ Office using a Correspondence Tracking System (CTS) database application. The CTS application also took in electronic correspondence via a webform; webform submissions were marked as email and a PDF file generated similar to a print-out of a standard email. Physical correspondence was often, but not always, scanned by the Governors’ Office and linked to the database system in numerous ways, linking correspondence for both subject matters and correspondents. Scans of physical correspondence were initially created using multi-page TIFF format and were eventually transitioned to PDF format. The database and its interface have been preserved and are part of the Texas Digital Archive (TDA). Scans of correspondence and webforms and representations of logged phone calls have been paired with exported CTS database information and are part of the TDA as well. Data entry errors by governor’s staff were not remediated during export. Correspondence PDFs had optical character recognition applied for full-text search functionality. The database also included several Twitter log entries, which were not exported.
Staff members of the Constituent Communication Office included: Greg Davidson (director), Dede Keith (deputy director), Kevin Washburn (senior writer/editor), Katie Tahuahua (ceremonial service representative), Brian Williams (writer), Peggy Pilgrim Rivera and Denny Morgan (production), Marie Dahlmann (correspondence team leader), and Linda Ahrens, Tammy Golden, Anthony Stokes, and Stefani Rossi (customer service representatives).
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 Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
Related Material
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.
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
(Identify the item), Texas Governor Rick Perry Constituent Communication Office correspondence. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession Information
Accession numbers: 2015/067, 2015/117
The paper records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Office of the Governor on December 19, 2014; electronic files were transferred by the Office of the Governor on January 29, 2015.
Processing Information
Processed by Jessica Tucker, April 2015
Updated to reflect analog correspondence sampling by Jessica Tucker, March 2021
Inventory of the Public Information Request files
For an inventory of the paper records please see the finding aid listed in the Other Finding Aids section.
| Texas-Digital-Archive | ||||||||||
| E2015/117 | Correspondence database, 1998-2015, 157 GB (1,557,091 files): | |||||||||
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| Ceremonial | ||||||||||
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| Texas-Digital-Archive | |||
| E2015/117 | Correspondence database, 2001-2015 [157 GB (1,557,091 files)] (RESTRICTED) |
