City–County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County
City of Indianapolis
Type
Type	Unicameral
Term limits	None
History
Founded	January 1, 1970 (1970-01-01)
Preceded by	Indianapolis Common Council
New session started	January 1, 2024
Leadership
President	Vop Osili (D)
Vice President	Ali Brown (D)
Majority Leader	Maggie A. Lewis (D)
Minority Leader	Brian Mowery (R)
Minority Whip	Paul Annee (R)
Structure
Seats	25
Political groups	Majority  Democratic (17) Minority  Republican (6) Other   Non-caucusing Democrats (2)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Last election	November 7, 2023 (25 seats)
Next election	November 2, 2027 (25 seats)
Meeting place
Beurt R. SerVaas Public Assembly Room City-County Building 200 E. Washington St.
Website
www.indy.gov/agency/city-county-council

TheCity-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County is thelegislative body of the combined government of the city ofIndianapolis and the county ofMarion in the state ofIndiana. The council was established as part of the consolidation of city and county governments, enacted byUnigov on January 1, 1970.^[1]

The council is composed of 25 members elected to four-year renewable terms, each representing anelectoral district. The council is responsible for reviewing and adopting budgets and appropriations. It can also enact, repeal, or amend ordinances, and make appointments to certain boards and commissions, among other duties. Council offices and the public assembly room are housed in theCity-County Building.^[1]

This sectionneeds expansion with: a general overview and citations. You can help byadding to it.(April 2022)

Robert Bruce Bagby was elected as the city's first African American to serve on the Indianapolis City Council in 1877.^[2]

This sectionneeds expansion with: a general overview and citations. You can help byadding to it.(April 2022)

Nannette Dowd became the first woman elected to Indianapolis Common Council in the 1934 municipal election.^[3]Sumner Alexander Furniss was elected and served from 1917 to 1921.^[4]

Following the launch ofUnigov on January 1, 1970, members of the former Indianapolis Common Council and the Marion County Council were combined to form the first City-County Council. The council was composed of 29 seats: 25 representing geographic districts and fourat-large.^[1] The first City-County Council election occurred on November 2, 1971.^{[citation needed]}

In the2011 Indianapolis City-County Council election, Zach Adamson was elected as the first openlygay member of the council, representing District 17.^[5]

In April 2013, theIndiana General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 621 which outlined several changes to city-county government, including eliminating the council's four at-large seats following the2015 Indianapolis City-County Council election. The controversial bill was signed into law byGovernorMike Pence.^[6]

The2019 Indianapolis City-County Council election proved historic. Democrats flipped six Republican seats to earn the party's firstsupermajority since the council's creation in 1970.^[7] Ali Brown became the first openlyqueer-identifying woman to serve on the council, representing District 5. Along with the reelection of Adamson, Brown was joined by fellow newcomers Ethan Evans (District 4) and Keith Potts (District 2), respectively—the mostLGBTQ members in the council's history.^[5]

Leading up to the 2023 municipal primary the Marion County Democratic Party announced the end of slating, a political process in whichprecinct committee persons endorsed candidates during a pre-primary convention. Candidates endorsed through the slating process were supported with party resources.^[8] In 2019, of the 24 electoral districts with contested Democratic primaries, 15 candidates were unopposed on the ballot.^[9] That year, all the incumbent councilors in both the Democratic and Republican primaries won their primary races.

In the2023 Indianapolis City-County Council election, the Republican Party gained one seat while the Democratic Party maintained its supermajority with 19 seats. During the Democratic primary, 11 candidates ran unopposed. Three incumbent Democratic councilors were defeated in the May primary.^[10]Jesse Brown, an endorsed member of theDemocratic Socialists of America was elected (District 13).^[11]Nick Roberts, age 23, was elected to (District 4), making him the youngest elected official for any of the 50 largest American cities at the time.^[12][13]

The Indianapolis City-County Council consists of 25 seats corresponding to 25electoral districts apportioned by population throughout Marion County. Because the council is the legislative body for both the city and the county, residents of Marion County's four "excluded cities" (Beech Grove,Lawrence,Southport, andSpeedway) are eligible to vote in council elections and are equally represented alongside Indianapolis residents.^[14] Every seat is up for reelection every four years. The head of the council is the council president who is elected by the majority party at the council's first meeting in January.

Following the2019 elections, Democrats expanded their control of the council with a 20–5 majority.^[15][16] This marked the first time inIndianapolis history that Democrats have held a supermajority on the council.^[17] The clerk of the council is Yulonda Winfield.

Members of the council earn an annual salary of $11,400, plus per diems of $112 per council meeting and $62 per committee meeting.^[23] Ordinance stipulates that annual base pay is capped at 12 percent of the mayor's salary ($95,000). In June 2022, councilors approved revisions to the ordinance for the first time in more than 20 years, increasing the annual salary to $31,075, in addition to per diems of $150 per council meeting and $75 per committee meeting. The ordinance will take effect in 2024, following the2023 Indianapolis City-County Council election.^[24]

• Scooters Removal/Regulations^[25]
• Addressing Potholes^[26]
• Improve Downtown^[27]
• BlueIndy^[28]
• Equity and Equality^[29]
• Council Pay Raise^[30]

• Government of Indianapolis
• List of mayors of Indianapolis

• Indianapolis City-County Council

• Government of Indianapolis
• Marion County, Indiana
• Indiana city councils
• County governing bodies in the United States

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