The Louisville Metro Council is the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

(Louisville Metro). It was formally established in January 2003 upon the merger of the former City of Louisville with Jefferson County and replaced the city's

Board of Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

and the county's Fiscal Court (three county commissioners).

Louisville City Hall Louisville City Hall is a registered historic building in Louisville, Kentucky, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Completed in 1873 to house the Louisville city government, the structure is located at 601 West Jefferson S ...

houses the offices and chambers of the council. The ''Metro Council'' consists of twenty-six seats corresponding to districts apportioned by population throughout Jefferson County. Although all cities in Jefferson County, apart from Louisville, retained their status after the merger, their residents are represented on Metro Council and vote alongside other county residents. The seats come up for reelection every four years, using a staggered process so that only half of the seats are up every two years. Since the council's inception, Democrats have maintained a majority in the chamber, currently with nineteen members (73.1%). Democrats gained two seats in the 2010 election and another 2 seats in the 2018 midterms.

History

The first semblance of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

came shortly after the settlement began. This was originally considered part of Virginia. In 1779, pioneering founders elected five men as "trustees". In 1780 the town was formerly chartered and the Virginia legislature provided for local government by nine legislature-appointed trustees. When Kentucky became a state in 1792, the

Kentucky legislature The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in t ...

took over the appointments. Trustees did not have to live in Louisville until a 1795 law change. In 1797 citizens were given home rule and the privilege of electing trustees. Most important decisions were made at the state level, and the trustees were administrators rather than legislators. When Louisville was incorporated as Kentucky's first city in 1828, it gained greater autonomy. A ten-member "Common Council" was founded, to be headed by a mayor. In 1851 the city was given a new charter, keeping the Common Council as a "lower house" to the

, an "upper house" of the city's legislative power. In 1929 the larger but less prestigious Common Council was eliminated. This legislative system continued until City-County Merger. The 26-seat Louisville Metro Council was formally established in January 2003 upon the merger of the former City of Louisville with Jefferson County. It replaced both the city's

and the county's Fiscal Court (three county commissioners).

Council President

The Louisville Metro Council President is the presiding officer of the council. The Council President is elected annually by a majority vote of the entire council at the council's first meeting in January. Currently the Council President is David James ( D), who was elected unanimously on January 18, 2018. Council Presidents:

List of members

Ordinances

In 2006, the council passed two controversial ordinances: a smoking ban in October and the so-called "Dangerous dog" ordinance in December. In 2007, the council considered a ban on trans fats and non-

biodegradable plastic Biodegradable plastics are plastics that can be decomposed by the action of living organisms, usually microbes, into water, carbon dioxide, and biomass. Biodegradable plastics are commonly produced with renewable raw materials, micro-organisms, ...

bags.

One Touch Make Ready

On February 11, 2016, the City Council of

voted 23-0 to adopt a One Touch Make-Ready ordinance, making it the first city in the country to adopt such legislation. According to city councilman Bill Hollander, who sponsored the legislation "This will help businesses locate here and grow here. It will create jobs, and will retain and attract our young people and make Louisville broadband ready." These sentiments were echoed by Louisville Mayor

Greg Fischer Gregory Edward Fischer (born January 14, 1958) is an American businessman, entrepreneur and 2nd mayor of Louisville Metro. In 2019, he was elected vice president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and served as its president in 2020. Fischer ra ...

, who stated that it would help lay the groundwork for entities like

Google Fiber Google Fiber is part of the Access division of Alphabet Inc. It provides fiber-to-the-premises service in the United States, providing broadband Internet and IPTV to a small and slowly increasing number of locations. In mid-2016, Google Fiber ...

, and said "Tonight's vote puts Louisville one step closer toward becoming a Google Fiber city." The legislation states that an applicant for attachment must first receive approval from the existing pole owners, at which point it may contract a pre-approved construction crew to perform all make ready work at its own expense. Pole owners and pre-existing providers whose wires were moved may choose to do post-make ready work inspections and call for remedial work if needed, at the new provider’s expense. The ordinance's passing directly led to multiple lawsuits involving the city.

Breonna's Law

On June 10, 2020, the Metro Council unanimously approved ″Breonna's Law″ banning no-knock search warrants after the 26-year-old emergency room technician was killed by

Louisville police The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) began operations on January 6, 2003, as part of the creation of the consolidated city-county government in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was formed by the merger of the Jefferson County Pol ...

on March 13, and the city erupted in violent protests on May 28. Police Chief Steve Conrad was fired on June 1 after the fatal shooting of black business owner David McAtee.

References

External links

*
Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky Metro Government Code of Ordinances
* — shows the voting history of each member of the council {{Louisville County government agencies in Kentucky Government of Louisville, Kentucky Kentucky city councils 2003 establishments in Kentucky