County’s software tracks legislation, informs public

King County, Wash., has begun using legislation management software to track legislative workflow and publish public documents on the Internet. The software has made it easier for residents and staff to get timely information about county ordinances and policies.

Prior to using the tracking software, King County council members used a word-processing table to store information about county legislation. The table included fields for proposed document numbers, titles, notable dates, sponsors, committee referrals and votes.

Agendas, minutes and other council documents also were created in a word-processing application and numbered manually. “It took about 20 hours per week to produce the council’s weekly agenda,” says Council Clerk Anne Noris. Similarly, she spent about five hours per week preparing council minutes.

When council members needed to find legislative documents, they faced a cumbersome and time-consuming search. The county’s record center maintained files of index cards that listed its materials by subject. After locating the desired information in the index cards, council members had to open and review many word-processing files to find exactly what they were looking for. Retrieving the entire file from the county’s record center took two to three days.

In January 2000, the King County council began using tracking software from Chicago-based Daystar Computer Systems to simplify document creation and retrieval. “The project was designed to [manage all legislation in] a single database and to increase the amount of information available to staff and the public,” Noris says.

The company worked with the county council to develop a system that would eliminate data entry redundancy and provide a simple process for tracking and indexing council documents. “At the council meetings, we are [recording] votes directly into the system so that preparation of minutes after the meetings is focused on reporting votes on amendments and discussions,” Noris says.

For three years staff members have posted basic information about the council to the county Web site. Prior to having the tracking software, they had to convert the word-processing documents to HTML for Web use. Now, the software generates documents in HTML, which has allowed the council to increase the information available on the site.

All council members have access to the tracking software on their desktop computers, which saves them time traveling to the council clerk’s office to find documents. Likewise, residents and all county employees can access council agendas, minutes and ordinances that have been advertised for public hearing on the county Web site.

For more information, visit King County’s Web site at www.metrokc.gov.