Chicago City Council, demystified


Search Chicago legislation

Chicago City Council consists of 50 elected alders and meets monthly to shape the city. The council works with Brandon Johnson, the Mayor, and Anna Valencia, the City Clerk.

Chicago Councilmatic tracks all things related to Chicago City Council:

More on how City Council works »

Note that while the official term for a City Council member is “alderman,” Councilmatic uses “alder” for both brevity and gender neutrality.

Engage City Council

Citywide issues

The Mayor proposes most city-wide policies. These include business transactions, changes to the municipal code, bond issuance and appointments.

View citywide legislation


Local issues

At the local level, matters like land use, signs, street parking, business permits, and other residents issues require the local Alder's support.

Find your alder


Upcoming Meetings


Next City Council meeting

Wed 7/16/2025
10:00a.m.
Council Chambers, City Hall 121 N LaSalle St, Chicago, IL

Details

Committee meetings

Tue 06/24 - Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Wed 06/25 - Committee on Public Safety

Wed 06/25 - Committee on Education and Child Development


All upcoming events

Latest Council Meeting

At the latest City Council meeting on Jun 18th, council members took action on 656 pieces of legislation, including 98 that are non-routine.

One of the more unusual aspects of Chicago City Council is the volume of ordinances that are introduced and passed every month. Most of these are routine items like sign permits, damaged vehicle claims, sidewalk cafe approvals and honorifics.

To help sort through all of this, we classify all legislation and tag it appropriately. If something doesn’t look like a routine piece of legislation, we tag it as Non-Routine to make it easier to discover.

Non-Routine Activity

Ordinance O2025-0017637 Active

Amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-022 (27.405) to allow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on portion(s) of N Ogden Ave

6/18/2025 - Introduced
Non-Routine Ward Matters Land Use Liquor and Package Store Restrictions

Report F2025-0017722 Active

Inspector general's report on City of Chicago's implementation and enforcement of Gun Offender Registration Ordinance

6/18/2025 - Introduced
Non-Routine City Matters Special Funds Inspector General

Communication F2025-0017723 None

Determination Certificate regarding draw down in amount of $1,620,000 on City Revolving Line of Credit with Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, of ordinance adopted May 1, 2002, amended March ...

6/18/2025 - Introduced
Non-Routine Unclassified

Order Or2025-0017768 Active

Order for Chicago Police Department to provide all reporting data and communications for presence at Intensive Supervision Appearance Program BI Incorporated building at 2245 N Michigan Ave ...

6/18/2025 - Introduced
Non-Routine Unclassified

Show more

Since the last council meeting

After Jun 18th, City Council introduced 1 new pieces of legislation, including 1 that are non-routine.

Non-routine legislation introduced

Ordinance O2024-0010070 Passed

Collective Bargaining Agreement with International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 700 (Supervising Police Communication Operators/SPCSOs) and City of Chicago

12/27/2030 - Signed
Non-Routine City Matters Labor Agreement