OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE PROCEDURE

Director's Office Suspense Slip Letters

TIMEFRAME: A 14-day turnaround is expected for letters requested by the Director’s Office. Extensions, if necessary, can be requested from the Director’s Office.

PROCESS: When a letter is received in the Director’s Office requiring the preparation of a response, the following process will be followed:

1. The letter is date stamped and entered into the correspondence log by the Director’s Office staff.
2. A suspense slip is prepared by Director’s Office staff and is emailed with a copy of the scanned original letter to the division/office to prepare the response.
3. Once the response is prepared by the division/office and approved by the chief, the hard copy version of the suspense slip, original correspondence, the response letter and necessary envelopes is forwarded to the Deputy Director’s office for review and approval.
4. Once approved by the deputy director, the package is forwarded to the Director’s Office for further review, approval and signature.
5. If the letter requires the review and approval of the Office of Legal or Legislative Services, it is forwarded to that office prior to being sent to the Director’s Office.
6. Once signed by the Director, the letter is mailed to the constituent or legislator by the Director’s Office.
7. Any “cc’s” noted to the Governor’s Office, legislators, congressional members, Director’s staff or agency directors will be sent by the Director’s Office. The division will send “cc’s” to internal staff.
8. A copy of the signed letter is sent to the division/office that prepared the response.

LETTER FORMAT: Letters should be prepared in block form, Times New Roman,12 point font. (see example)

Letters should indicate the preparer’s and the processor’s initials. (Example: “SDL/JS/mb” would indicate that the letter was prepared for the Director Logan’s signature by John Smith and was processed by Mary Brown.)

REFERENCE TO GOVERNOR: If the suspense slip indicates to respond “With reference to Governor," the opening sentence should begin: “Governor (insert name) has asked me to respond to your letter…” and should include “cc: Governor’s Office” at the bottom of the letter.

LEGISLATIVE: Legislative staff will review and approve letters to state, federal and local officials prior to the Director signing them.

When addressing an elected official, “The Honorable” is indicated prior to their name in the address box. In the salutation, the appropriate title such as Senator, Representative, Mayor, etc. is used. No abbreviations should be used.

Legislative letters should always include: “cc: (insert name) Legislative Liaison.”

CHIEF'S SIGNATURE Letters with suspense slips that are designated, “For Chief’s Signature with Reference to Director” should open with a sentence that states: “Director (last name) has asked me to respond to your letter…,” and the response should indicate a “cc: Director’s Office.”

The division forwards one hard copy of the chief’s signed response letter to the Director’s Office with the suspense slip and original correspondence.

LETTERS WITHOUT SUSPENSE SLIPS: A letter generated from a division/office requesting the Director’s signature requires the chief’s approval which can be indicated on a note or route slip attached to the prepared response letter. Once approved by the chief, the letter is sent to the Deputy Director’s Office for approval after which the letter is delivered to the Director for signature.

All other procedures remain the same as stated above.

GOVERNOR'S SIGNATURE: There is no specific letter format, as only the text will be forwarded electronically to the Governor’s Office for final formatting. No envelopes are required.

Electronically forward the suspense slip with the chief’s approval, the prepared response (text) and the original correspondence to the Deputy Director’s Office for approval. Once approved by the Deputy Director, the letter will be forwarded to the Director’s Office for final approval and electronic submission to the Governor’s Office. When necessary the “Request for Governor’s Signature” form will be completed and submitted by the Director’s Office. Divisions are not to obtain the signature (electronic or autopen) of the Governor without following the appropriate protocol.

A signed copy of the Governor’s letter will be returned to the responding division/office by the Director’s Office when received.