Your Texas CJIS audit notice just arrived. What should you do in the first 24 hours?
Do not start by rewriting every policy you own. Start by establishing the people, scope, sources, deadlines, and evidence location you will need for everything that follows.
A calm first day beats a frantic last week.
The notice is not a signal to buy hardware blindly or download thirty policy templates. Your first job is to understand what is happening and make sure the right people see the same information.
- Save the original notice and every attachment. Keep the original correspondence together and identify every date or pre-audit request.
- Identify the people. Confirm the LASO, IT representative, agency leadership, and anyone else specifically expected to participate.
- Open the current official Texas CJIS documents. Do not rely on the folder from your last audit cycle.
- Create one evidence location. Start an organized working folder before screenshots, policies, diagrams, vendor documents, and answers scatter across email.
- Identify the obvious CJI systems and vendors. You do not need a perfect inventory in hour one. You need to know where to start looking.
- Protect the calendar. Do not assume the audit will fit neatly into the shortest possible meeting block.
Get the First 24 Hours checklist.
In preview mode, this site lets you open the printable checklist directly. When you connect your email provider, the same form becomes the lead-capture step in the launch funnel.
Three easy ways to waste your first day.
Do not rewrite everything blindly.
A policy that does not match your agency's practice creates a different problem. Understand the control and reality first.
Do not buy your way out of uncertainty.
Inventory first. “Everything is outdated” frequently becomes a much smaller list once you know what you actually have.
Do not assume the last audit is the model.
Requirements, systems, people, vendors, and agency responsibilities change. Start with the current source material.