About Denver City Council

The voters of Denver elect City Council members to:

  • Make laws.
  • Budget the city’s money.
  • Investigate city agencies and employees. 

Denver is divided into 11 districts and each district elects one council member to represent it. Two other council members represent the entire city and are called “members at large.”

The district maps are redrawn every 10 years after the federal census. Click here for the map that goes into effect in April 2023 for the 2023 municipal election.

Council members must be:

  • At least 25 years old.
  • A U.S. citizen.
  • A resident of Denver for two years.
  • A resident of their district for the last year (except members at large).
  • If elected, must live in their district while they serve. (Members at large must live in Denver while they serve.)

 


Denver City Council Land Acknowledgement

The Denver City Council honors and acknowledges that the land on which we reside is the traditional territory of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples. We also recognize the 48 contemporary tribal nations that are historically tied to the lands that make up the state of Colorado.

We honor Elders past, present, and future, and those who have stewarded this land throughout generations. We also recognize that government, academic and cultural institutions were founded upon and continue to enact exclusions and erasures of Indigenous Peoples.

May this acknowledgement demonstrate a commitment to working to dismantle ongoing legacies of oppression and inequities and recognize the current and future contributions of Indigenous communities in Denver.

 

 Frequently Asked Questions

 

Who is my council member?

To locate which council district you live in and which council member represents you, enter your address into the Denver City Council interactive map.  You may also call the City Council main office at (720) 337-2000 to find out who is your City Council representative.

 

When and where does council meet?

Council meets in the Council Chambers, Room 450 of the City and County Building, 1437 Bannock Street (except when there is an emergency that requires the Council to meet in a different location or virtually). 

The regular meetings of the full Council normally begin at 3:30 p.m. on most Monday afternoons. Typically, if Monday is a holiday, then the meetings are on Tuesdays at 3:30 p.m. Click here to receive the council schedule (includes committee meetings) in your inbox every Thursday afternoon.

The Council committees usually meet on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings. Learn more about the committees

You can watch the Council meetings on Denver 8 if you have Comcast cable television. You can also watch live and archived video online.

 

What are the qualifications for members of City Council? Must I have a college degree to run for Council?

The City Charter has no requirements for formal education or experience. The requirements in the Charter are stated in 3.1.3 of the Charter as follows:

"Each councilman shall be a citizen of the United States; a resident of the City and County of Denver for the two (2) years immediately preceding his election; a qualified elector of the City and County of Denver; over twenty-five (25) years of age and if elected from a council district, the second year of residency shall have been within the district."

In addition, the Charter imposes certain restrictions as follows:

B3.1.4 Qualifications and Restrictions. No member shall hold any other public elective office or any other employment with the City and County of Denver. No member shall have any direct interest in any contract with the City; nor shall any member have any interest arising by contract or other relationship which creates a substantial conflict of interest with respect to that member's Council duties which cannot be avoided by abstention or by disqualification from participation in a transaction or series of transactions without adversely affecting the interests of the city...

B3.1.5 No person who has been convicted of willful evasion of City or State taxes; or who has been convicted of malfeasance in office, bribery or other corrupt practices, shall be qualified for membership in the council.

 

How does a person run for City Council?

The procedures for running for City offices are stated in Chapter C of the Charter, which you can view on our website via the Denver Revised Municipal Code.

You should read the entire Charter election section and should talk to the staff of the Elections Division about how to run. There are many complex rules governing the conduct of campaigns, and this portion of the Council’s web page cannot address them all. But the short version is that the formal process for running for office starts with the nomination of the candidate. The Charter describes the nomination process as follows:

"C1.5 Nomination--How made. The name of a candidate for district councilman shall be placed upon the ballot when a verified petition of not less than one hundred (100) signatures of registered electors, who reside in the district in which the candidate resides, shall have been filed in his behalf at least forty-five (45) days before the day of election in the manner and form and under the conditions established by the election commission, unless otherwise provided by ordinance in pursuance of this charter. The name of a candidate for mayor or auditor or councilman-at-large or election commissioner shall be placed upon the ballot when a verified petition of not less than three hundred (300) signatures of registered electors shall have been filed in his behalf at least forty-five (45) days before the day of election in the manner and form and under the conditions established by the election commission, unless otherwise provided by ordinance in pursuance of this charter." 

 

What is the salary for members of City Council?

Salaries for all elected officials in the City and County of Denver are set by ordinance in a general election year. You can find the current salary structure for council members here.

 

Is City Council a part-time or full-time job?

Council members are elected to represent their district or the city on a full-time basis.

 

Do council members have offices?

Yes, they each have one office. The office is either in a city owned building or the City pays the rent for the office. Seven council members have offices in the City & County Building while the remaining six have offices located in their districts. 

 

How much money do council members have to run their offices?

In 2020, each council member received $264,000 to operate his or her office, which provides for the salary of the staff and supplies for operating his/her office. 

 

Why doesn't the council vote on every bill on the agenda?

They do vote on every bill. Before the Council recess, the members tell the president which bills they want to call out for a vote. Only those bills are voted on individually. The other bills are passed in a block vote.

 

How is the council president elected?

The president and pro tem are elected by the members of council, not the voters. During the Council meeting on the third Monday of July, the Council elects new officers — a president and a pro tem. Both officers serve one year. In addition to presiding over the meetings, the president appoints committees and designates their functions. The pro tem fills in for the president when necessary. 

 

How do I sign up to speak at a public hearing?

Speakers may sign-up on personal devices starting at 3 p.m. at denvergov.org/CouncilPublicInput. Sign-ups must be completed by 5:30 to be accepted. Speakers may also sign-up in person in Room 451.

 

How are laws made?

Below is a very brief outline of the legislative process and how laws are enacted. To learn more, download our visual diagram(PDF, 74KB).

  1. Council Committee Meeting - Proposed legislation is discussed.
  2. Mayor Council Meeting (following Tues) - Bills to be filed each week are discussed.
  3. Council Meeting, First Reading (following Mon) - Bill is either ordered published or defeated
  4. Council Meeting, Second Reading
  5. Mayor signs or vetoes (Council can override veto with 9 votes)
  6. City Clerk publishes new ordinance by end of the week (ordinance takes effect upon publication) 

 

What are council's rules of procedure?

The Rules of Procedure(PDF, 311KB) govern the legislative process of the City Council, serving as a guide to fair and orderly procedure in meetings.

What is council's respectful workplace policy?