Few things erode trust in a city faster than a request marked "Closed" when the pothole is still there. It happens in every 311 system for ordinary reasons. A request gets sent to another agency and the system closes it. A crew closes a batch at the end of the day. A duplicate gets merged and the original reporter never hears what happened.
In Baltimore, council members proposed a resolution after residents saw requests transferred between agencies show up as "closed" (CBS Baltimore). The problem wasn't the crews. It was what the system told residents.
Sentra 311 is built so that "Closed" means the problem is gone.
Proof to close
Each request type can require proof before a request is closed:
- An after photo of the finished work.
- A note in the crew's own words. A pre-filled default doesn't count.
- An "On site" step, so the system knows someone was actually there.
Cities set these per request type, with a city-wide default. A pothole might require an after photo. A "check on a noise complaint" might only need a note. Everything is off until a city turns it on, so nothing changes until you decide.
The rules are enforced in the system itself, not only on the screen. The close drawer in the portal, the worker app close-out, bulk close and field reports all follow them. The worker app shows a checklist of what's needed and keeps the Submit button off until it's done.
When an admin needs to close without proof
Sometimes there's a good reason: the crew's phone died, or the work was done by a contractor. A city admin can close without proof, but only by writing a reason. The reason is saved in the request's timeline and counted in reports, so overrides stay visible.
Telling residents the truth
Not every request ends with a fix. Sentra 311 shows residents what actually happened:
- Sent to another agency. The status reads "Sent to Fresno County Public Works," for example, with that agency's phone number or website when the city has it. It says plainly that the city has passed it on. It never says "Closed."
- Merged with another report. The status reads "Merged into #1234" with a link to follow that request instead.
- Closed without a fix. If the crew couldn't find the problem, or no action was needed, the status reads "Closed — couldn't fix," with the reason in plain words. The progress bar doesn't show "Fixed."
The emails match. A referral sends a referral email. A request closed without a fix doesn't send the "Fixed" email. When it is fixed, the email includes the after photo and the crew's note.
Reports that show how requests ended
The "How requests ended" report splits closures into fixed, closed without a fix, sent to another agency and merged. It shows what share of fixes had proof, and how many admin overrides there were. Any grouping works: by department, district or request type.
The department dashboard has a "Closed with proof" number, so supervisors can see at a glance whether the rules are being followed.
Why this matters for small cities
In a small city, residents know the crew. They see the same truck on their street. When a request says "Fixed" and it isn't, they don't just lose trust in an app. They lose trust in people they know.
Proof rules also protect crews. When a resident says "nobody came," the after photo and the on-site time answer the question without an argument.
Proof and the resident's view
When a request closes with proof, the resident's tracking page shows the after photo next to the before photo. That side-by-side view is often the first thing residents share with neighbors.
A note on referrals
When staff refer a request, they can add the agency's phone number and website. Residents then know exactly who to follow up with, and the city doesn't get the "who do I call now?" call.
Getting started
We suggest starting with an after photo for the types residents can see: potholes, graffiti, sidewalk damage, signs. Leave the rules off for types where a photo doesn't make sense. Look at the "Closed with proof" number after a month and adjust.
The goal isn't paperwork. It's that when a resident sees "Fixed," they believe it.