$c1 = $query->param( 'c1' );
@cand_info = &get_cand_info( $c1 );

.....

sub
get_cand_info() {
        my ( $c1 ) = @_;
        my @cand_info = ();
        my $pq_out;

        # Gather the information from a POST query.
        if( length($c1) == 7 ) {
                push( @cand_info, 'HRID' );
                $pq_out = `/opt/bin/pq -o '%last:%first:%loc:%room:%tel:%id' hrid=$c1`;
        }
 
        chomp $pq_out;
 
        # Put the data into the list.
        @cand_info = ( @cand_info, split(/:/, $pq_out) );
        ($cand_info[1] = $cand_info[1]) =~ s/_/ /g;   # name massage
 
        return @cand_info;
}