The papers of James T. Flynn consist of miscellaneous files relating to his tenure in the Senate. The miscellaneous nature of the files is no doubt attributable to the fact that the papers were received in the Archives via the Legislative Reference Bureau and not directly from Flynn's office. Clearly, this accession in no way represents the main body of his legislative papers.
The largest portion of the files pertain to the Legislative Council's Special Committee on Court Reorganization which did research and made recommendations for enacting the restructuring of the court system mandated by voters in April 1977. As Flynn was chairman of this committee from 1977 to 1978, his files are quite complete. Included are agenda and summary proceedings, general and specialized research correspondence, staff memoranda of several types, maps, and research information. Further supplementing these unpublished records are some serialized Legislative Council memoranda and reports held by the Wisconsin Historical Society Library. A small quantity of related correspondence and unintroduced legislation is included in the papers of Senator Henry Dorman (Parkside Mss 55), also a member of the committee.
Smaller files of proceedings, correspondence, and working files relate to several other of Flynn's committee assignments: the Judicial Council's Committee on Court Administration, the Legislative Council's Committee on Courts, and the Senate Committee to Study Standing Committee Rules. Three legislative files of similar composition concern a privacy bill for which Flynn was a co-sponsor, the office of the public defender, and the transportation revenue package of 1975.
Two additional cartons of Flynn Papers received in 1983 and 1984 via the Legislative Reference Bureau contained additional material on court reorganization as well as documentation on his long interest in compensation for crime victims. This material has been arranged as an alphabetical subject file at the end of the first portion of the collection.
The court reorganization material consists of correspondence, memoranda, notes, and reports on the legislation enacted by the 1975/1976 and 1977/1978 sessions. There are also files on the Committee for Court Modernization which worked to pass the constitutional referenda on court reform in 1977. This file includes copies of statements from Flynn and advertising used by the committee. The crime victims file documents Flynn's involvement in various pieces of legislation on this subject from 1973 to 1978. Other subject files of interest include those on non-discriminatory credit for women, termination of parental rights for children in foster care, and fire safety for high-rise buildings. Also added to this section from internal Archives files were two newsletters distributed by Senator Flynn.
