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 orga ...

(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 is composed of the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the 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 council and the president pro temp ...

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 limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of California, all ...

, 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 l ...

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

. 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-lar ...

(LAPD), the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (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 lar ...

(LAPL), the Los Angeles Department of Public Works (LADPW), and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (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 c ...

, 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, he was first elected in the 2013 election, and reelected in 2017. A f ...

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, the president pro tempore is Mitch O'Farrell 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 and the

Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department The Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department is the head of the LAPD. List of police chiefs See also References {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Los Angeles Police Department Chiefs Of Police Police Law enforcement workers from California ...

. 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 ...

, and the Airport Police, within the Los Angeles World Airports 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 ...

(LAX), and Van Nuys Airport (VNY)). The Los Angeles General Services Police, 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 ...

, 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 A felony is t ...

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 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 Controlle ...

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 (HACLA) * Los Angeles City Clerk * Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) * Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department (HCIDLA) *

(LAPL) * Los Angeles Department of Public Works (LADPW) * Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks * Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) * Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) * Los Angeles World Airports ** Los Angeles Airport Police **

** Van Nuys Airport * 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", ...

** Los Angeles Port Police

Elections

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

defeating city controller

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, she ...

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 ...

. 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 Univ ...

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 offe ...

and may be prosecuted by city authorities.

Other governments

California

The Los Angeles Superior Court, 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 List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

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

, California law, 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 agen ...

, 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 ...

, and

assessor An assessor may be: * ''Assessor'' (fish), a genus of fishes * Assessor (law), the assistant to a judge or magistrate * Assessor (Oxford), a senior officer of the University of Oxford * Assessor (property) Tax assessment, or assessment, is t ...

, and numerous county departments and entities under the supervision of the chief executive officer. The majority of the county department headquarters are physically located within the city of Los Angeles.