Policy Text
Page 1 of 7 1/04 (REV 7/11)
Departmental Correspondence
The purpose of this General Order i s to provide policies and re quirements regarding the
preparation of written departmental correspondence. I. Policy Statement
All correspondence received by th is department requiring a resp onse shall be
acknowledged within ten busines s days of receipt. Internal and external written
communications shall conform to the format prescribed by this G eneral Order.
II. General Procedures
A. All correspondence assigned out of the Sheriff’s Office for response will be
given a due date for submission to the Sheriff. Time extension s may be
obtained by contacting the Sheriff’s Assistant.
B. Forms
All correspondence shall be wri tten only on the approved inter- department
correspondence form or departmen t letterhead. (See Appendices A and
B.) Contract cities may use their designated letterhead and in ter-
department forms.
1. The Sheriff’s formal gold-em bossed stationery shall be used only
for letters signed by the Sheri ff, Undersheriff, Assistant to t he
Sheriff, or a Chief Deputy. The formal stationery is available from
the Sheriff’s Assistant.
2. Black and white stat ionery shall be used for all other exter nal
correspondence. The stationery is available as a desk top item on
Sheriff’s Department computers.
3. Approved inter-department co rrespondence stationery shall be
used for written communication within the department and with
other county departments and agenc ies. The Inter-department
correspondence form is available as a desktop item on Sheriff’s
Department computers.
Page 2 of 7 1/04 (REV 7/11) C. Sheriff’s Signature
1. The Sheriff’s signature is r equired for the following types of
correspondence:
a. Response to all correspondence from elected officials,
members of the Board of Super visors, Sheriffs, Police
Chiefs, and Agency Heads.
b. All correspondence affecti ng departmental policies or
procedures.
2. Correspondence prepared for t he Sheriff’s signature shall be
submitted to the Sheriff’s A ssistant along with all supporting
material used to prepare the re sponse. Signed documents will b e
returned to the author who is res ponsible for copying and maili ng.
If materials need to be mailed i mmediately, the author shall pr ovide
the Sheriff’s Assistant with appr opriately addressed envelope(s )
and any specific instructions.
III. Review and Approval Requirements
A. All official departmental co rrespondence must have approval of the
author’s Division Commander.
B. Correspondence that is consi dered “form letters” does not re quire
individual approval; however any form letter developed for offi cial use
must be approved by the appropria te Division Commander. (See Ge neral
Order 1/05, Forms Management Program.)
C. All correspondence shall be re viewed for form, content, gram mar, spelling
and punctuation. Any corrections shall be made by the author.
IV. Materials Intended for Publication
A. All materials prepared for pub lic dissemination shall be rev iewed and
approved by the originator’s com manding officer, Captain, Chief Deputy,
or Assistant to the Sheriff, and by the Undersheriff before sub mission to
any publication.
B. Upon acceptance of approved ma terials, the author shall noti fy his or her
Division Commander of t he name and date of the magazine, book,
newspaper or other publication.
V. Format Requirements
A. Sheriff’s Department Letterhead
Page 3 of 7 1/04 (REV 7/11) 1. Letters shall be prepared in t he full-block style with left justification.
The date, inside address, salutat ion, body, complimentary close
and signature block shall be at t he left margin. (See example i n
Appendix A.)
2. The date shall be ty ped with month, day and year (May 2, 200 4).
3. Mixed punctuation shall be used, with a colon after the salu tation
and comma after the complimentar y close. (See example in
Appendix A.)
4. A subject line may be used in a lengthy letter, or if name o r case
number should be set forth at the beginning of the letter. The
subject line should be in full c apital letters, two lines down from the
inside address and above the salu tation. (See example in Append ix
A.)
5. The complimentary close sha ll be placed two lines below the last
line of the body of the letter and in most cases should be “Ver y truly
yours” followed by a comma.
6. The signature line sh all be placed below the complimentary c lose.
a. If the letter is to be signed by the Sheriff personally, his
name shall be typed four li nes below the complimentary
close in all capital letters fo llowed by the title (SCOTT R.
JONES, SHERIFF).
b. If the letter is to be signed by another department member,
the Sheriff’s name and title s hall be typed in all capital lett ers
two lines below the compliment ary close. The name, title
and division of the signer shoul d be typed four lines below
the Sheriff’s name. (See example in Appendix A.)
7. The initials of the author and typist will be typed two spac es below
the signature block