The government of the City of Los Angeles operates as a

charter city Home rule in the United States relates to the authority of a constituent part of a U.S. state to exercise powers of governance (i.e., whether such powers must be specifically delegated to it by the state—typically by legislative action—or a ...

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

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The elected government is composed of the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

with 15 city council districts and the

mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of Los Angeles is the head of the executive branch of the government of Los Angeles and the chief executive of Los Angeles. The office is officially Non-partisan democracy, nonpartisan, a change made in the 1909 charter; previously, ...

, which operate under a

mayor–council government A mayor–council government is a system of local government in which a mayor who is directly elected by the voters acts as chief executive, while a separately elected city council constitutes the legislative body. It is one of the two most comm ...

, as well as several other elective offices. Under the

California Constitution The Constitution of 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 constitution was drafted in both English ...

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

Karen Bass Karen Ruth Bass (; born October 3, 1953) is an American politician who has served as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Bass previously served in the United States House ...

, the current city attorney is

Hydee Feldstein Soto Hydee Feldstein Soto (born 1958) is an American attorney and politician, who is the incumbent Los Angeles City Attorney, City Attorney of Los Angeles. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. Early life and ca ...

and the current city controller is

Kenneth Mejia Kenneth Mejia (born November 7, 1990) is an American activist, Certified Public Accountant, accountant, and politician, serving as the Los Angeles City Controller, City Controller of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party (Unit ...

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

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

(LAPD), the

Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides firefighting services and technical rescue services, hazardous materials services, and emergency medical services to the residents of the city of Los Angeles, California, United ...

(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 o ...

(LADOT), the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), the Los Angeles Department of Public Works (LADPW), and the

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

(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. The 43rd and current mayor is

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 Marqueece Harris-Dawson and the assistant president pro tempore is Bob Blumenfield. 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 municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

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

Police Department

The

(LAPD) police 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 Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department is the Chief of police, head and senior-most officer to serve in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The incumbent manages the day-to-day operations of the LAPD and is usually held by a four ...

. 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 Amer ...

), 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 is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...

(LAX), and

Van Nuys Airport 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 World Airports (LAWA), a branch of the Los Angeles city government, which also operates Los Angeles Internat ...

(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 State school, public school district in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the List ...

maintains its own separate

police department The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citize ...

, 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 offenses only. The City Attorney is elected for four years, and the City Charter requires ...

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 of Los Angeles, mayor and the Los Angeles ...

is the elected auditor and chief accounting officer of the city. The Los Angeles City Treasurer handles financial matters.

Personnel Department

The Personnel Department recruits employees, administers competitive examinations, and establishes eligible lists for employment. In addition, the Department recruits and examines sworn police and fire candidates and conducts background investigations. It establishes rules and regulations governing the promotion, transfer, leave of absence, removal, and reinstatement of City employees; administers the City's classification plan; administers the City's affirmative action and equal employment programs; and maintains a variety of employment records for all City employees. https://personnel.lacity.gov The Personnel Department assists other departments with in-service training, placement, and counseling; administers employee health and dental insurance and other benefit programs; investigates grounds for removal or suspension of employees; investigates discrimination complaints; and conducts hearings. The Department administers pre-employment health examinations; administers a workers' compensation program, including vocational rehabilitation for City employees; and provides medical care for persons in custody of the Police Department. It administers the City's Trip Reduction/Commuter Services Program which includes ridesharing, vanpooling, mass transit subsidies and employee parking. 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) *

(LAFD) * Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department (HCIDLA) * Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) * Los Angeles Department of Public Works (LADPW) https://dpw.lacity.gov/ * Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks *

(LADOT) *

(LADWP) * Los Angeles Department of City Planning (LADCP) https://planning.lacity.gov/ * Los Angeles World Airports ** Los Angeles Airport Police **

* Office of Finance * Personal Department https://personnel.lacity.gov *

Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "Amer ...

** Los Angeles Port Police

Elections

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

Eric Garcetti Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the List of ambassadors of the United States to India, United States ambassador to India from 2023 to 2025. He was the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles f ...

defeating city controller Wendy Greuel for

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

. 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 is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...

was about 19% of registered voters, 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. In 2024, Trump was the first Republican since George W. Bush to surpass 25% in the city, while Harris was the first Democrat since Barack Obama in 2012 to get less than 1 million votes in the city.

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 admi ...

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 of ...

and may be prosecuted by city authorities.

Other governments

California

The

Los Angeles Superior Court The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Court located in Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The Superior Court operates 36 courthouses throughout the county. Curr ...

, 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 LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

, 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 regulat ...

, 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, 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, the , which is common ...

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

, and assessor, 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.