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PAD 5005: Policy Process and Democracy: Local Legislation

Introduction to Tracking Local Legislation

Tracking local legislation can be difficult as each local government may have different ways of communicating legislative changes. Major cities tend to make much of their legislative information online while smaller localities do not have the resources to do so. Here are some documents you need to look for:

  • Resolutions (full-text of any versions of the resolutions)
  • Transcripts of hearings/debates
  • Meeting Minutes
  • Ordinance (if resolution is passed)

Colorado Springs Legislation

Tracking local ordinances can be difficult depending on how much information is located on the municipality's website.

It is easy to get to the City of Colorado Springs ordinances, but it doesn't provide any legislative history information. Use the ordinance's name to search the Colorado Springs gov website to find more information.

If you are still missing information, you'll need to contact the City Clerk or whomever the website lists as a contact person.

Finding Other Local Legislation

Best place to start is locating the specific municipality’s website. Sometimes these websites will list the municipality’s ordinances right on the website as well as meeting minutes and other pertinent documents. At least, it should provide with a contact person that you can reach for more specific questions.

Most municipal enterprises have websites that contain their bylaws or other documents you can use to determine legislative intent. Each website will be different, but look for a way to search the website or browse to an About Us section of the site.

For example:

Local Newspapers

Local newspapers are a great source for finding more information about local legislation. While news articles are not official government documents, they can help you understand some of the intent behind the legislation.

Many local newspapers have websites. Here are two local examples:

Searching for Newspapers

You can search the web for them by typing in the local city/municipality/state name and newspaper to locate them, but you can also use the following sources: