The Jim Compton Subject Files include correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, Council Briefings, and press clippings relating to issues before the City Council during his tenure and especially to subjects discussed in committees Compton chaired. Major subjects include public safety, including police accountability; governmental use of technology; management of energy and municipal utilities; environmental protection; and transportation. Also of interest are records related to the World Trade Organization events of 1999.

Compton's public safety related records document his work in improving fire department facilities, including support for the Fire Facilities Levy in 2003 and the City's decision to station a fire boat in fresh water, inside the Ballard Locks at Fisherman's Terminal. There is a large body of records related to his concern for police accountability, combating racial profiling, and equity for minorities and the poor who were disproportionately affected by legislation pertaining to driving with a suspended license. The records also illustrate his work in creating the Office of Professional Accountability, an independent agency that reviews certain police matters in an effort to maintain as much transparency as possible and improve the relationship between the community and the SPD.

Additionally, the records document the searches for a new fire chief and a new police chief. The latter was particularly significant because the initial post-WTO search was controversial and poorly managed. Compton helped create a process that provided greater community input and maintained a higher level of transparency in the ultimate selection of Chief Gil Kerlikowske.

The technology-related records demonstrate Compton's efforts to extend access to government through technology and his desire to create a municipally-owned wireless system that would be free to all citizens. He developed the concept of the Democracy Portal which included improvements to and expansion of the Seattle Channel, City website information, and web commerce for bill paying and obtaining City forms and documents.

Compton's energy records document the financial problems at City Light in the wake of the national energy scandals of the late 1990s and early 2000s, including subsequent audits, reports, and hearings that played a significant part in the Council's decision not to reconfirm Gary Zarker as City Light superintendent. The records also document the hiring of a new superintendent and some of the management and administrative changes at City Light.

Other records document environmental projects and programs such as the matching grant program to help protect streams and improve fish habitat; the revamping of comprehensive drainage and water quality policies; and transportation issues such as finishing the missing link on the Burke-Gilman Trail, and the auditing of the Monorail project that ultimately led to its dissolution.

Of special interest are the records related to the investigation of the WTO meeting riots in Seattle. Compton chaired the special panel that carried out the investigation and issued a report that identified specific measures aimed to prevent similar episodes in the future. The records accumulated during the investigation are a separate collections in the Archives (1802-K1).