The government of Los Angeles operates as a

charter city In the United States, a charter city is a city in which the governing system is defined by the city's own charter document rather than solely by general law. In states where city charters are allowed by law, a city can adopt or modify its organ ...

(as opposed to a general law city) under the charter of the City of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The

elected government An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

is composed of the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...

with 15 city council districts and the

mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is term limit, limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of Califo ...

, which operate under a

mayor–council government The mayor–council government system is a system of local government that has a mayor who is directly elected by the voters serve as chief executive, and a separately elected legislative city council. It is one of the two most common forms of loc ...

, as well as several other elective offices. The current mayor is

Karen Bass Karen Ruth Bass (; born October 3, 1953) is an American politician, social worker and former physician assistant who is serving as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Bass had previously served in the U.S ...

, the current city attorney is

Hydee Feldstein Soto Hydee Feldstein Soto (born 1958) is an attorney and American politician, who is the incumbent City Attorney of Los Angeles. A member of the Democratic Party, her candidacy was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times. Early life and career Feldstein ...

and the current city controller is

Kenneth Mejia Kenneth Mejia (born November 7, 1990) is an American activist, accountant, and politician, serving as the controller of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party and a former Green, Mejia was a three-time candidate for the Unite ...

. In addition, there are numerous departments and appointed officers such as the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

(LAPD), the

Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and technical rescue services to the city of Los Angeles ...

(LAFD), the

Los Angeles Department of Transportation The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, commonly referred to as LADOT, is a municipal agency that oversees transportation planning, design, construction, maintenance and operations within the city of Los Angeles. LADOT was created by city or ...

(LADOT), the

Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...

(LAPL), the

Los Angeles Department of Public Works LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...

(LADPW), and the

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States with 8,100 megawatts of electric generating capacity (2021-2022) and delivering an average of 435 million gallons of water per day to more ...

(LADWP).

Organization

The government of the city of Los Angeles includes the following city officers: * Mayor * Members of the Council * City Attorney * City Clerk * Controller * Treasurer * The members of the boards or commissions of the departments and the chief administrative officer of each department and office * An Executive Director of the Board of Police Commissioners * Other officers as prescribed by ordinance

Mayor

The

is the chief executive officer of the city. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term, and limited to serving no more than two terms. Under the

California Constitution The Constitution of California ( es, Constitución de California) is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of California, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of California. California's original co ...

, all judicial, school, county, and city offices, including those of chartered cities, are nonpartisan. The 42nd and current mayor is

Eric Garcetti Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles from 2013 until 2022. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was first elected in the 2013 Los An ...

City Council

The

is the governing body of Los Angeles. The council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms and limited to three terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the council at the first regular meeting after June 30 in odd-numbered years. An assistant president pro tempore is appointed by the president. The current president of the Los Angeles City Council is

Paul Krekorian Paul Krekorian (born March 24, 1960) is an American politician, currently serving as the 26th president of the Los Angeles City Council since October 18, 2022. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he has represent ...

, the president pro tempore is

Mitch O'Farrell Mitch O'Farrell (born 1960) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district from 2013 to 2022, during which he spent eight days as President of the City Council during the 2022 Los Angeles ...

and the assistant president pro tempore is ''Vacant.'' Regular council meetings are held in the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10 am except on holidays or if decided by special resolution.

Police Department

The

(LAPD) polices the city of Los Angeles. It is governed by the

Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, also commonly known as the Los Angeles Police Commission, is a five-member body of civilian-only, appointed officials which oversees the Los Angeles Police Department. Organization The board is made ...

and the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. The city also maintains specialized police agencies; the Port Police, within the Harbor Department (which is responsible for land, air and sea law enforcement services at the Port of Los Angeles), Los Angeles City Park Rangers, within the Parks and Recreation Department (which are responsible for security and fire protection in

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the Ameri ...

, and the Airport Police, within the

Los Angeles World Airports Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is the airport authority that owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Van Nuys Airport (VNY) for the city of Los Angeles, California. LAWA also owns and manages aviation-related property n ...

Department (which is responsible for law enforcement services for the 2 city-owned airports;

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

(LAX), and

Van Nuys Airport : ''For the United States Air Force use of the airport (1942–1990), see Van Nuys Air National Guard Base'' Van Nuys Airport is a public airport in the Van Nuys neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles. The airport is operated by Los Angeles Wo ...

(VNY)). The

Los Angeles General Services Police The Los Angeles General Services Police was a law enforcement agency that provided police and security officer services to Los Angeles City Hall, Los Angeles Central Library, Los Angeles Zoo, Los Angeles Convention Center and city parks, recreati ...

, which provided police coverage for Los Angeles city owned property and parks (except for

) was absorbed into the LAPD in 2012. The

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

maintains it own separate

police department The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

, as do many other school districts and college campuses within the city.

Neighborhood councils

The charter of the City of Los Angeles ratified by voters in 1999 created a system of advisory neighborhood councils that would represent the diversity of stakeholders, defined as those who live, work or own property in the neighborhood. The neighborhood councils are relatively autonomous and spontaneous in that they identify their own boundaries, establish their own bylaws, and elect their own officers. There are currently 99 neighborhood councils.

Other

The

Los Angeles city attorney The Los Angeles City Attorney is an elected official who serves as the city of Los Angeles' government's lawyer and as a criminal prosecutor for misdemeanor violations. The Los Angeles County District Attorney prosecutes felonies. The city attorne ...

is an elected official whose job is legal counsel for the city and may prosecute misdemeanor criminal offenses within the city. The

Los Angeles City Clerk Los Angeles City Clerk is in charge of record keeping for the city and elections. Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed the current City Clerk, Holly L. Wolcott, on August 13, 2014. Wolcott has a long record of service to the City of Los Angeles, having ...

is in charge of record-keeping for the city and elections. The

Los Angeles City Controller The Los Angeles City Controller is an official in the government of the city of Los Angeles, California. The City Controller is the paymaster and chief accounting officer of the city. Along with the Mayor and the City Attorney, the City Controller ...

is the elected auditor and chief accounting officer of the city. The Los Angeles City Treasurer handles financial matters. In addition, there are numerous departments and appointed officers such as the: * Economic & Workforce Development Department (EWDD) *

Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) is a state-chartered public agency. Established in 1938, HACLA provides the largest stock of affordable housing in the city Los Angeles, California and is one of the nation's oldest public ...

(HACLA) *

(LAFD) * Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department (HCIDLA) *

(LAPL) *

(LADPW) * Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks *

(LADOT) *

(LADWP) *

Los Angeles Airport Police The Los Angeles Airport Police Division (sometimes known as LAWAPD or LAXPD) is the airport police division of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the city department that owns and operates two airports in Southern California: Los Angeles Int ...

* Office of Finance *

Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "America's Port", t ...

Los Angeles Port Police {{Infobox law enforcement agency , agencyname = Port of Los Angeles Police , nativename = , nativenamea = , nativenamer = , commonname = Los Angeles Port Police , abbreviation = , fictional = , patch ...

Elections

The most recent elections were in May 2013, with 13th district city councilman

defeating

city controller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

Wendy Greuel Wendy Jane Greuel (born May 23, 1961) is an American politician. She served as Los Angeles City Controller from 2009–13. Greuel was the second woman elected to citywide office in Los Angeles, after her predecessor Laura Chick. Previously, sh ...

for

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. The

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

was about 19% of

registered voters In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...

, one of the lowest turnouts on record, with Garcetti garnering about 54% of the votes.

Politics

Los Angeles has voted for every Democratic Party candidate for president since at least 1964. In the seven presidential elections since George H.W. Bush's re-election bid in 1992, no Republican candidate has received as much as 30% of the vote in Los Angeles.

Law

The charter of the City of Los Angeles is the founding document of Los Angeles. Pursuant to its charter, all legislative power is vested in the council and is exercised by ordinance subject to a veto by the Mayor. Pursuant to this power, the council has caused to be promulgated the Administrative Code, consisting of administrative and procedural ordinances, and the Municipal Code, consisting of codified regulatory and penal ordinances. Violations of the ordinances are

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

crimes unless otherwise specified as an

infraction A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary offen ...

and may be prosecuted by city authorities.

Other governments

California

The

Los Angeles Superior Court The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Los Angeles County, which includes the city of Los Angeles. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The ...

, which covers the entire county, is not a county department but a division of the State's trial court system. Historically, the courthouses were county-owned buildings that were maintained at county expense, which created significant friction since the trial court judges, as officials of the state government, had to lobby the county Board of Supervisors for facility renovations and upgrades. In turn, the state judiciary successfully persuaded the state Legislature to authorize the transfer of all courthouses to the state government in 2008 and 2009 (so that judges would have direct control over their own courthouses). Courthouse security is still provided by the county government under a contract with the state.

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles is also part of

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

, for which the government of Los Angeles County is defined and authorized under the

California law The law of California consists of several levels, including Constitutional law, constitutional, Statutory law, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law. The California Codes form the general statutory law, and most state agency regulati ...

, and the charter of the County of Los Angeles.California Government Code § 23004 The county government provides countywide services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, and social services. The county government is primarily composed of the elected five-member

Board of Supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

, other elected offices including the

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

, and assessor, and numerous county departments and entities under the supervision of the chief executive officer. The majority of

the county ''The County'' ( is, Héraðið) is a 2019 Icelandic Melodrama#Film, melodrama directed by Grímur Hákonarson. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. Cast * Arndís Hrönn Egi ...

department headquarters are physically located within the city of Los Angeles.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*
City Charter, Rules, and Codes

Data portal
{{Authority control