<PAGE>   1


As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 13, 2000

                                                          Registration No. 333-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM S-8
                        REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE
                             SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                                HARTE-HANKS, INC.
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

            DELAWARE                                            76-1677284
-------------------------------                             ------------------
(State or Other Jurisdiction of                              (I.R.S. Employer
 Incorporation or Organization)                             Identification No.)

                       200 CONCORD PLAZA DRIVE; SUITE 800
                            SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 78216
                                 (210) 829-9000
       (Address, including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, including Area
               Code, of Registrant's Principal Executive Offices)

                              AMENDED AND RESTATED
                                HARTE-HANKS, INC.
                             1991 STOCK OPTION PLAN

                              (Full Title of Plans)

      DONALD R. CREWS, ESQ.                                  COPY TO:
  SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, LEGAL                         ALAN J. BOGDANOW, ESQ.
        HARTE-HANKS, INC.                               HUGHES & LUCE, L.L.P.
200 CONCORD PLAZA DRIVE, SUITE 800                 1717 MAIN STREET, SUITE 2800
     SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 78216                            DALLAS, TEXAS  75201

   (Name, Address, and Telephone Number,
 including Area Code, of Agent for Service)
                      ------------------------------------
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                          CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
======================================================================================================================
<S>                            <C>                   <C>                   <C>                      <C>
                                                        PROPOSED               PROPOSED
  TITLE OF EACH CLASS            AMOUNT                 MAXIMUM                 MAXIMUM               AMOUNT OF
     OF SECURITIES                TO BE              OFFERING PRICE            AGGREGATE            REGISTRATION
    TO BE REGISTERED           REGISTERED(1)           PER SHARE(2)         OFFERING PRICE(2)            FEE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock, $1.00 par
         value                  3,000,000               $ 24.53125            $73,593,750            $ 19,428.75
======================================================================================================================
</TABLE>

(1)  This registration statement also includes an indeterminate number of shares
     of Common Stock that may be issued if certain anti-dilution provisions of
     the Amended and Restated Harte-Hanks, Inc. 1991 Stock Option Plan become
     operative.

(2)  Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee on the
     basis of the average of the high and low price paid per share of Common
     Stock, as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on July 11, 2000, in
     accordance with Rule 457(h) promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933,
     as amended.



<PAGE>   2


                                     PART II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT


ITEM 3. INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

         The following documents heretofore filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC") by Harte-Hanks, Inc. (the "Registrant") are
incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement:

         (a) Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,
1999, which contains audited financial statements of the Registrant for the
Registrant's last completed fiscal year (the "1999 Form 10-K").

         (b) All reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a) or
15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"),
since the 1999 Form 10-K.

         (c) The description of the Registrant's common stock, par value $1.00
per share (the "Common Stock"), contained in the Registrant's Registration
Statement on Form 8-A, dated October 7, 1993 (File Number 33-69202), including
any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description.

         All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that all
of the shares of Common Stock offered have been sold or which deregisters all of
such shares then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by
reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date
of filing of such documents (such documents, and the documents enumerated above,
being hereinafter referred to as "Incorporated Documents").

         Any statement contained in an Incorporated Document shall be deemed to
be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the
extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed
Incorporated Document modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so
modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded,
to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

ITEM 4.   DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.

         Not applicable.

ITEM 5.   INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.

         Not applicable.


                                       2
<PAGE>   3


ITEM 6.   INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

         As permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law
("Delaware Law"), the Registrant's Bylaws provide that the directors and
officers of the Registrant will be indemnified by the Registrant against certain
liabilities that those persons may incur in their capacities as directors or
officers. Furthermore, the Registrant's Amended and Restated Certificate of
Incorporation eliminates the liability of directors of the Registrant to the
fullest extent permitted by Delaware law.

ITEM 7.   EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.

         Not applicable.

ITEM 8.  EXHIBITS.

         The Exhibits to this Registration Statement are listed in the Index to
Exhibits on Page 7 of this Registration Statement, which Index is incorporated
herein by reference.

ITEM 9.  UNDERTAKINGS.

         (a)      The Registrant hereby undertakes:

                  (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
         being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

                          (i) To include any prospectus required by Section
                  10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

                          (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
                  arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement
                  (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which,
                  individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental
                  change in the information set forth in the Registration
                  Statement;

                          (iii) To include any material information with respect
                  to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the
                  Registration Statement or any material change to such
                  information in the Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the
information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those
paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the SEC
by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act
that are incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.

                  (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under
         the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed
         to be a new registration statement to the securities offered therein,
         and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be
         the initial bona fide offering thereof.


                                       3
<PAGE>   4


                  (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
         amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at
         the termination of the offering.

         (b) The Registrant hereby undertakes that for purposes of determining
any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's annual
report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where
applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

         (c) Insofar as indemnification by the Registrant for liabilities
arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and
controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the provisions described in
Item 6, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the
SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities
Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for
indemnification by the Registrant against such liabilities (other than the
payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or
controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action,
suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person
in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless
in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

                                   SIGNATURES

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets
all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this
Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized, in San Antonio, Texas, on July 13, 2000.

                                          HARTE-HANKS, INC.


                                          By:  /s/ Larry Franklin
                                               -------------------------------
                                          Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
                                          (Principal Executive Officer)


                                       4
<PAGE>   5


                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

         We, the undersigned officers and directors of Harte-Hanks, Inc., hereby
constitute and appoint Larry Franklin, our true and lawful attorney-in-fact and
agent, with full power of substitution for him and in his name, place and stead,
in any and all capacities, to sign for us and in our names in the capacities
indicated below, the Registration Statement on Form S-8 filed herewith and any
and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to the Registration
Statement, and generally to do all things in our name and behalf in the
capacities indicated below to enable Harte-Hanks, Inc. to comply with the
provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and all requirements to
the Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming our
signatures as they may be signed by our attorney, to said Registration Statement
and any and all amendments thereto.

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
              Signature                                     Title                                      Date
              ---------                                     -----                                      ----
<S>                                             <C>                                                <C>
     /s/ Larry Franklin                                 Chairman and                               July 13, 2000
       -----------------------------               Chief Executive Officer
            Larry Franklin                      (Principal Executive Officer)


     /s/ David L. Copeland                                Director                                 July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------
            David L. Copeland

     /s/ Peter T. Flawn                                   Director                                 July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------
            Dr. Peter T. Flawn

     /s/ Christopher M. Harte                             Director                                 July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------
            Christopher M. Harte

     /s/ Houston H. Harte                               Vice Chairman                              July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------
            Houston H. Harte
</TABLE>

                                       5
<PAGE>   6
<TABLE>
<S>                                               <C>                                              <C>
     /s/ Richard M. Hochhauser                             President,                               July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------              Chief Operating Officer and
            Richard M. Hochhauser                         Director

     /s/ James L. Johnson                                 Director                                  July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------
            James L. Johnson

     /s/ Jessica M. Huff                               Controller and                               July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------               Chief Accounting Officer
            Jessica M. Huff                              (Principal
                                                      Accounting Officer)

     /s/ Jacques D. Kerrest                  Senior Vice President, Finance and                     July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------              Chief Financial Officer
            Jacques D. Kerrest
</TABLE>

                                       6
<PAGE>   7



                                INDEX TO EXHIBITS



Exhibit
Number                     Description
-------                    -----------

5.1                 Opinion of Hughes & Luce, L.L.P.

23.1                Consent of Hughes & Luce, L.L.P. (contained in Exhibit 5.1)

23.2                Consent of KPMG LLP

24.1                Power of Attorney (contained at Page 5)
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "filename": "s-8.txt", "description": "FORM S-8", "secsgml_size_bytes": 15635}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "HARTE HANKS INC", "cik": "0000045919", "assigned-sic": "2741", "irs-number": "741677284", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-41370", "film-number": "672541"}, "business-address": {"street1": "200 CONCORD PLAZA DR STE 800", "city": "SAN ANTONIO", "state": "TX", "zip": "78216", "phone": "2108299000"}, "former-company": [{"former-conformed-name": "HARTE HANKS COMMUNICATIONS INC", "date-changed": "19920703"}, {"former-conformed-name": "HARTE HANKS NEWSPAPERS INC", "date-changed": "19771010"}]}
1

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 13, 2000

                                                          Registration No. 333-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM S-8
                        REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE
                             SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                                HARTE-HANKS, INC.
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

            DELAWARE                                            76-1677284
-------------------------------                             ------------------
(State or Other Jurisdiction of                              (I.R.S. Employer
 Incorporation or Organization)                             Identification No.)

                       200 CONCORD PLAZA DRIVE; SUITE 800
                            SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 78216
                                 (210) 829-9000
       (Address, including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, including Area
               Code, of Registrant's Principal Executive Offices)

                              AMENDED AND RESTATED
                                HARTE-HANKS, INC.
                             1991 STOCK OPTION PLAN

                              (Full Title of Plans)

      DONALD R. CREWS, ESQ.                                  COPY TO:
  SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, LEGAL                         ALAN J. BOGDANOW, ESQ.
        HARTE-HANKS, INC.                               HUGHES & LUCE, L.L.P.
200 CONCORD PLAZA DRIVE, SUITE 800                 1717 MAIN STREET, SUITE 2800
     SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 78216                            DALLAS, TEXAS  75201

   (Name, Address, and Telephone Number,
 including Area Code, of Agent for Service)
                      ------------------------------------
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
======================================================================================================================
PROPOSED               PROPOSED
  TITLE OF EACH CLASS            AMOUNT                 MAXIMUM                 MAXIMUM               AMOUNT OF
     OF SECURITIES                TO BE              OFFERING PRICE            AGGREGATE            REGISTRATION
    TO BE REGISTERED           REGISTERED(1)           PER SHARE(2)         OFFERING PRICE(2)            FEE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock, $1.00 par
         value                  3,000,000               $ 24.53125            $73,593,750            $ 19,428.75
======================================================================================================================
(1)  This registration statement also includes an indeterminate number of shares
     of Common Stock that may be issued if certain anti-dilution provisions of
     the Amended and Restated Harte-Hanks, Inc. 1991 Stock Option Plan become
     operative.

(2)  Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee on the
     basis of the average of the high and low price paid per share of Common
     Stock, as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on July 11, 2000, in
     accordance with Rule 457(h) promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933,
     as amended.
2

                                     PART II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

ITEM 3. INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

         The following documents heretofore filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC") by Harte-Hanks, Inc. (the "Registrant") are
incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement:

         (a) Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,
1999, which contains audited financial statements of the Registrant for the
Registrant's last completed fiscal year (the "1999 Form 10-K").

         (b) All reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a) or
15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"),
since the 1999 Form 10-K.

         (c) The description of the Registrant's common stock, par value $1.00
per share (the "Common Stock"), contained in the Registrant's Registration
Statement on Form 8-A, dated October 7, 1993 (File Number 33-69202), including
any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description.

         All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that all
of the shares of Common Stock offered have been sold or which deregisters all of
such shares then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by
reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date
of filing of such documents (such documents, and the documents enumerated above,
being hereinafter referred to as "Incorporated Documents").

         Any statement contained in an Incorporated Document shall be deemed to
be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the
extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed
Incorporated Document modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so
modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded,
to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

ITEM 4.   DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.

         Not applicable.

ITEM 5.   INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.

         Not applicable.

                                       2
3

ITEM 6.   INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

         As permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law
("Delaware Law"), the Registrant's Bylaws provide that the directors and
officers of the Registrant will be indemnified by the Registrant against certain
liabilities that those persons may incur in their capacities as directors or
officers. Furthermore, the Registrant's Amended and Restated Certificate of
Incorporation eliminates the liability of directors of the Registrant to the
fullest extent permitted by Delaware law.

ITEM 7.   EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.

         Not applicable.

ITEM 8.  EXHIBITS.

         The Exhibits to this Registration Statement are listed in the Index to
Exhibits on Page 7 of this Registration Statement, which Index is incorporated
herein by reference.

ITEM 9.  UNDERTAKINGS.

         (a)      The Registrant hereby undertakes:

                  (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
         being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

                          (i) To include any prospectus required by Section
                  10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

                          (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
                  arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement
                  (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which,
                  individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental
                  change in the information set forth in the Registration
                  Statement;

                          (iii) To include any material information with respect
                  to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the
                  Registration Statement or any material change to such
                  information in the Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the
information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those
paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the SEC
by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act
that are incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.

                  (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under
         the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed
         to be a new registration statement to the securities offered therein,
         and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be
         the initial bona fide offering thereof.

                                       3
4

                  (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
         amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at
         the termination of the offering.

         (b) The Registrant hereby undertakes that for purposes of determining
any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's annual
report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where
applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

         (c) Insofar as indemnification by the Registrant for liabilities
arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and
controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the provisions described in
Item 6, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the
SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities
Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for
indemnification by the Registrant against such liabilities (other than the
payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or
controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action,
suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person
in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless
in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

                                   SIGNATURES

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets
all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this
Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized, in San Antonio, Texas, on July 13, 2000.

                                          HARTE-HANKS, INC.

                                          By:  /s/ Larry Franklin
                                               -------------------------------
                                          Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
                                          (Principal Executive Officer)

                                       4
5

                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

         We, the undersigned officers and directors of Harte-Hanks, Inc., hereby
constitute and appoint Larry Franklin, our true and lawful attorney-in-fact and
agent, with full power of substitution for him and in his name, place and stead,
in any and all capacities, to sign for us and in our names in the capacities
indicated below, the Registration Statement on Form S-8 filed herewith and any
and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to the Registration
Statement, and generally to do all things in our name and behalf in the
capacities indicated below to enable Harte-Hanks, Inc. to comply with the
provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and all requirements to
the Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming our
signatures as they may be signed by our attorney, to said Registration Statement
and any and all amendments thereto.

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated:
Signature                                     Title                                      Date
              ---------                                     -----                                      ----
/s/ Larry Franklin                                 Chairman and                               July 13, 2000
       -----------------------------               Chief Executive Officer
            Larry Franklin                      (Principal Executive Officer)

     /s/ David L. Copeland                                Director                                 July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------
            David L. Copeland

     /s/ Peter T. Flawn                                   Director                                 July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------
            Dr. Peter T. Flawn

     /s/ Christopher M. Harte                             Director                                 July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------
            Christopher M. Harte

     /s/ Houston H. Harte                               Vice Chairman                              July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------
            Houston H. Harte
5
6
/s/ Richard M. Hochhauser                             President,                               July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------              Chief Operating Officer and
            Richard M. Hochhauser                         Director

     /s/ James L. Johnson                                 Director                                  July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------
            James L. Johnson

     /s/ Jessica M. Huff                               Controller and                               July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------               Chief Accounting Officer
            Jessica M. Huff                              (Principal
                                                      Accounting Officer)

     /s/ Jacques D. Kerrest                  Senior Vice President, Finance and                     July 13, 2000
         ---------------------------              Chief Financial Officer
            Jacques D. Kerrest
6
7

                                INDEX TO EXHIBITS

Exhibit
Number                     Description
-------                    -----------

5.1                 Opinion of Hughes & Luce, L.L.P.

23.1                Consent of Hughes & Luce, L.L.P. (contained in Exhibit 5.1)

23.2                Consent of KPMG LLP

24.1                Power of Attorney (contained at Page 5)