Legistar®

Comprehensive, round-trip agenda and minutes workflow

Legislative workflows often require a significant commitment from clerical staff. Drafting legislation, getting items approved, compiling information from various departments, and creating a meeting agenda are integral parts of the pre-meeting process. Then, there are live and post-meeting processes that staff must follow to ensure an accurate record of a meeting. With so many moving parts, steps can be overlooked or items can be inadvertently dropped. Using a completely automated, round-trip legislative workflow solution can save staff countless hours.

Legistar allows government staff to easily manage the entire legislative process from end-to-end. From drafting files, through assignment to various departments, to final approval, Legistar is an automated solution designed to reduce workloads and create a more efficient method for managing decisions. This system maintains all legislative data and tracks each item’s path through the entire process.

Plus, the Legistar solution allows staff to quickly and easily print or publish agenda and minutes documents to the Web, helping to ensure records availability and promote government transparency.

Manage items for meeting agendas

Easily create new files for meeting agendas. Each new file created has a unique ID number to help identify and track it through legislation. To create a new file, identify the file type (resolution, ordinance, report), indicate the meeting body in control of the item and the item’s status. The file will automatically be added to the selected legislative body’s upcoming meeting agenda.

Simply type the file text directly into the system or draft it in the familiar template of Microsoft Word®. Once the text of an item is complete, add supporting attachments of any file type to substantiate the item.

Automate the agenda item approval process

Electronically route agenda items for approvals. If a file depends on approvals before being added to an agenda, create an automated approval sequence and let the system manage the work. Selected approvers will be notified by email when the item is ready for their approval.

Approvers can log into the system directly or access the approval form in a web-based application. Approvers can also review all information, including supporting documents, make edits as needed and approve or deny the request. Once the approver indicates an action, the system automatically notifies the next approver in sequence. When all approvals are complete, the requestor is notified and the item is ready for the agenda.

Assemble complete agendas

Automatically gather and compile legislative data for any meeting body’s agenda. Items are pulled into the agenda based on the file’s agenda date. Items can also be added on the fly or from a drop-down menu of existing files. Customize agenda formats including headers, logos, section titles and more for multiple legislative bodies. Allow users to simultaneously draft agendas - modify text, add or delete agenda items. Once the agenda is compiled, print or publish full packets to the Web.

Sync agenda data to Granicus’ iLegsilate iPad app and give elected officials a completely paperless experience. They can review meeting agendas, capture notes and view supporting materials through the app at no additional cost.

Automatically publish meeting minutes

Once an agenda is created, a minutes report is created containing the same meeting details. In duplicating the content in the agenda, the system eliminates redundant post-meeting work.

Automatically reassign agenda items to the appropriate department based on vote results and the actions taken during a meeting. Auto-routing items creates a more efficient and reliable legislative workflow, helping clerk staff avoid minor mishaps.

All actions, votes, notes and video indexes are captured live, or added after the fact, for a seamless, round-trip workflow. Staff can publish draft minutes to the organization’s website within hours of the meeting’s adjournment, helping to promote public access to the decision-making process.

Track legislative items and generate historical reports

Track the path of each bill, ordinance, resolution or other legislation from its inception through approvals and actions taken. The following data is captured for legislative tracking:

• Meeting body, office, or department taking the action
• Action taken and date
• Department referrals
• Mover, seconder, and member votes
• Changes to the item
• Final approvals
• Full minutes motion and action text

Because the system tracks all data, staff can easily search all file history and generate legislative reports.

Agenda Item Management

• Draft files with templates and version control
• Set standard and user-defined agenda item description fields
• Review agenda item history (dates, motions, actions, votes, and notes)
• Link directly to meeting agenda and minutes
• Index by subject matter
• Cross-reference agenda items
• Indicate agenda item sponsors
• Import, print, and publish supporting documents in any printable format

Meeting Agendas

• Automatically assemble agenda packets
• Format and generate agenda reports
• Print and publish complete agendas to the web
• Auto-number agenda items
• Meeting calendar
• Hearing notices

Meeting Minutes

• Record attendance roll call, motions, actions, votes, and discussions
• Membership and attendance records
• Automatic referral routing
• Track mover, seconder, votes, tally, pass/fail
• Auto-generate action text
• Record consent and block voting
• Expanded data entry validation and auto entry (actions, motions, meeting attendance, movers, seconder, voters, office members, sponsors, appointments, approvers, mailing lists)
• Auto-generate enactment numbers
• Print and publish complete minutes: action summary, minutes, and referral notices
• User defined report criteria

Search

• Search using any combination of fields or text
• EZ search across all text fields
• Full text search through agenda items, legislative text, agendas, minutes and voting records
• Browse recent files, agendas, minutes
• Most recently visited files, agendas, minutes
• Search results (type, intro date, status, title)
• Print searched results
• Track vacancy and on-line applications

Additional Features

• Unlimited users and records
• Tools for data entry: validation, spell check, file locking, security log, and more
• Run generic reports: hearing notices, public notices, address labels, calendars, general certification, pending items, index, and others
• Report in multiple formats: screen, printer, HTML, Word Document, email, PDF
• Create user-defined system messages, file and agenda templates, Word Macros, votes and roll call format options
• Set user account security groups
• Track elected and appointed office holders
• Comprehensive system administation and user options