The County Administrative Board is an authority with big variations in their work. The fact that the County Administrative Board work with so many different issues makes it difficult for the general public to get an insight in what they do and what kind of archival material they create. This handbook is made to illustrate what the County Administrative Board do and how you can find your way to the archives and its documents, both as an employ and as a public visitor. The Handbook begins with a historical overview of the County Administrative Board, from the 17th century to today, with focus on the County Administrative Board of Uppsala. As the Handbook is made for both employees and for the general public several ways to enter the archives are described. Since the employees at the County Administrative Board of Uppsala have access to the archives them self the Handbook also provides detailed descriptions about how to find the way to the records. These descriptions both explains the way to archives organized in dossier and archives organized in chronological order, both provided at County Administrative Board of Uppsala. All the records that the County Administrative Board of Uppsala has generated though the years are not available in the building of the County Administrative Board but at The National Archive in Uppsala. The records are listed in charts in the end of the Handbook.

Archives can tell us many things about the past. The purpose of this guide is to facilitate the work of those who want to know more about the documents associated with death sentences. The guide gives a brief introduction to the history of the death penalty in Swedish legal history, to the legal process and to the judicial authorities. It also adresses the relationship between the various bodies and the relationship between law and jurisprudence. The guide presents primarily the archives of Nedre justitierevisionen and of Svea hovrätt. The guide presents what kind of information can be found and provides guidance as to how these documents are sought. Through a case study, we learn that records can give answers to many questions regarding a person sentenced to death.