The records of the Kansas Governor, as arranged at the State Archives, are divided into the Main Office, including the office of the Pardon Attorney or Pardon and Extradition Attorney; and into individual administrations. The Main Office records transcend individual administrations, and many of these records focus on the governor's power to pardon criminals and to grant parole and sentence commutation. Other records found in these general series include proclamations, executive messages and orders, and writs of election; letterpress books consisting of copies of outgoing correspondence; the selection and appointment of state and local officials to office; and the records of the Governor's Committee on Criminal Administration, which existed briefly in the latter half of the twentieth century. Correspondence series of individual Kansas governors up until the late twentieth century are generally organized into the following sub-series: 1) Alphabetical files, containing general constituent correspondence; 2) Appointment files, arranged by state agency; 3) State Agency files, documenting the activities and policies of Kansas state agencies and their interactions with the governor's office; and 4) Subject files, pertaining to relevant issues of the time. Some series of governors' records also include separate series of proclamations and messages. Later governors' records, starting in the 1960s, were divided into more series as the records became more voluminous. These records continue to follow the general trend of earlier governors with materials documenting state agency policies, appointments made by the Governor, constituent correspondence, etc.; as well as providing financial and other information about the governor's office. Subjects appearing consistently through the years include local units of government, education, relations with the federal government, liquor laws, taxation, politics, and economic conditions.
