Clerk Files

Series — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 1802-01

Staff Only

Scope and Contents note

This record series (abbreviated as CF, and formerly called the Comptroller Files) consists of materials placed "on file" with the City Clerk as an official City document. Types of records include affidavits, contracts, audits, City publications, applications, correspondence, annual reports, mayor's messages and vetoes, petitions, appointments, agreements, policies and procedures, legislation background materials, etc. These records can be generated by elected officials, City or other agencies, and the general public, and are arranged numerically beginning in 1895 with number 1.

As the City grew over the years, some functions were moved from City Council to other agencies, so filing requirements changed. In the 1990s, non-archival CFs such as contracts were deaccessioned; these may still be reflected in the Clerk File database but they no longer exist in the collection. Beginning in 2018, internal guidelines for what was added to the Clerk File changed, eliminating many non-archival record types.

Many early CFs containing annual reports, audits, studies, and other items of particular interest were pulled from the sequential series and added to subseries designated for those record types. (Look for series numbers following the 1802-[letter][number] pattern, e.g., 1802-A8 or 1802-F3.) This practice was discontinued in the 1990s, with the exception of annual reports, which continued to be collected in their own series.

These records are on microfiche. Paper copies also exist for many CFs, with the notable exception of a gap between 1962 and 1994. Only a few large CFs remain from that period in paper form.

Dates

Creation: 1895-2017

Creator

Seattle (Wash.). City Clerk (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access note

Records are open to the public.

Historical Note

The City Clerk maintains the City's legislative records, official filings, and the Seattle Municipal Archives; keeps the minutes of City Council meetings; and provides information services to City agencies and the public. Seattle's first City Charter allowed for a Clerk of the Common Council to be elected by the Council. In 1875 the position of City Clerk became elective and remained so until 1896 when the new Charter designated the Comptroller ex-officio City Clerk. The Comptroller served as City Clerk through 1992. A 1991 City Charter amendment transferred the Comptroller's function to the Department of Finance and the City Clerk's Office became a division of the Legislative Department effective in 1993.

Extent

450 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Accruals

Accruals are ongoing.

General Note

A Comptroller or Clerk File (CF) can consist of correspondence, reports, petitions, contracts, agreements, etc. from elected officials, City departments, other government agencies, or the general public, which have been placed "on file" with the Office of the City Clerk (OCC). A CF Project instituted in 1987 was designed to remove archival records and purge routine, non-permanent records based on a specially developed City Clerk's records retention schedule. Those CF records that were not transferred to archival records series and not purged are included in Series 1802-01.

A single accession number, 1987-048, was assigned to the transfer of the CF to the Archives and includes all subsequent transfers.