Chapter 1 – General Administration

14050.6.2 Legislative Reports – Format

• Legislative reports shall be prepared on plain white 20 lb. bond paper in the following format:

  • The body of the report shall be typed in block form.

  • If captions are used, they shall be typed in initial capital letters and underscored.

  • Paragraphs are to be single spaced with double spacing between them.

  • Pages shall be numbered in the upper right corner of each page, with the report control number also appearing on each page, just above the page number.

• Sections

  • Each section of the report described below shall appear in the report in the order listed:

    • Cover: Each report shall have a front and back cover of beige cover-stock paper. The front cover is to include the title of the report, centered, with the “Department of Corrections” just below the title, and the date and control number in the lower right corner.

    • Preface: The preface shall be on plain white bond paper. It shall be entitled “Preface”, underlined and centered with the date in the upper-right corner. It should include the following sections:

    • Purpose of the report (statutory, committee request, etc.).

    • Scope of the report.

    • Brief statement covering the highlights of findings and recommendations.

    • The Director’s signature (two copies of the report shall bear the original signature and be delivered to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the Assembly).

• Note: A record is kept of all reports received in the Legislature. The preface will be published in the appropriate legislative journal.

• Table Of Contents: A table of contents is appropriate when the report covers several subjects or extensive/complex material requiring various subheadings.

• Executive Summary: This summary states the purpose and scope of the report, and shall include a statement of findings and recommendations.

• Body Of Report: This section briefly states the purpose of the report, including a summary or quote of the legislative request, and summarizes the method used in conducting any studies, research, polling, etc., to prepare the report. Include acknowledgements of cooperation and assistance received. The report shall be clear and concise.

• Recommendation/Evaluation (Optional): It is sometimes more appropriate to place recommendations and evaluations into a separate section. When this is done, the sections should be labeled as such. Any evaluation, recommendation or conclusion should be substantiated.

• Appendices: Unless charts, statistics, graphs, footnotes and other technical support material complement the body of the report, they should be placed in this separate section at the end of the report.