City Council
The Chicago City Council is composed of 50 representatives known as alderpersons, or alders, who are elected by the residents of the city’s 50 wards. Residents contact their alders to make ward-specific requests (like removing street signs) or suggest policies for the city.
Alders are elected every four years. The next election is in 2027. If no candidate secures more than half the vote in their ward, a runoff is held.
Click here to view a full list of current alders.
I want to…
*The livestream link only works while there is a livestream available.
What does the City Council do?
Drafts ordinances (laws) and resolutions
Votes to approve or reject ordinances and resolutions
Conducts oversight over city departments and officials
Approves or rejects appointments by the mayor
How does the City Council work?
The City Council usually meets at least monthly to conduct business, which includes hearing from the public during a 30-minute public comment period, honoring people and events through resolutions, voting on ordinances (an ordinance is city-level legislation), and introducing new ordinances to be referred to committees for further consideration.
Ordinances cover important policy on subjects like pensions, crime, and housing, as well as more specific concerns such as approving locations of stop signs. The mayor presides over Council meetings, and in the event of a tie, the mayor casts the tie-breaking vote. You can watch recordings of City Council meetings on the City Clerk’s website.
Ordinances are proposed to the City Council by alders, the mayor, or city departments. The City Council refers the proposed ordinances to the appropriate committee for further consideration.
As of June 2023, Legistar lists 20 City Council committees. New committees can be created by a 2/3 vote of the Council. Check out the list of committees and their members.
Traditionally, the mayor chooses the committee chairs, which must be approved by the City Council.
Committee chairs decide when a committee will meet and what will be on the agenda. There is no regular schedule.
If legislation is approved by the committee, it is then generally voted on by the City Council at its next meeting.
The mayor and city departments can submit ordinances directly to a committee, bypassing the initial City Council meeting. This procedure is called Rule 41 Direct Introduction. As of February 2023, the ordinance number to amend Rule 41 is R2022-1116.
In addition to committees, the Council has an office called the Council’s Office of Financial Analysis (COFA), staffed by three professional analysts. It was established in 2013 to provide alders with policy feedback independent of the mayor’s office. COFA reports to the Chair of the Budget & Government Operations Committee.
The Council also has an office called the Legislative Reference Bureau that drafts and reviews legislation, conducts legal research, and advises alders. The Bureau reports to the President Pro Tempore of the Council.
Alders receive funds known as menus to use for infrastructure projects such as resurfacing alleys, fixing sidewalks, and other improvements. The menu fund is $1.5 million per ward.
Examples of City Council Responsibilities
Zoning — Zoning is the process of deciding what sizes of buildings get built where and deciding whether those buildings can be used for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes. This power legally resides with the City Council and the mayor. Exceptions to zoning ordinances have historically been obtained by the alder in whose ward the project is located. This practice, unique to Chicago, is known as “aldermanic privilege” or “aldermanic prerogative.” View a zoning map of Chicago.
Budget — The mayor proposes Chicago’s annual budget. The City Council reviews it and, generally, amends it prior to giving final approval. Click here to see the 2023 budget documents.
Redistricting — The City Council is charged with re-drawing ward boundaries after each census, every ten years. The most recent boundary changes were made in 2022. Click here to see this decade’s maps.
Oversight — The City Council is responsible for oversight of the City of Chicago government as a whole.
How Does Chicago’s City Council Size Compare to Other City Councils?
Adapted from Bachrach, Ed, and Austin Berg. The New Chicago Way: Lessons from Other Big Cities. Southern Illinois University Press, 2019.
* ‘How to fill vacancies’ refers to how a seat is filled when an alder retires, dies, or is removed.
There is no national consensus on how many representatives should serve on a city council. The Chicago City Council is unusually large, members are not term-limited, and unexpectedly vacant positions are filled by mayoral appointees.