Research the record
Search the full text of thousands of Chicago City Council documents (ordinances, agreements, exhibits, agendas, meeting summaries, and meeting transcripts) by meaning, not just keywords. Or ask a question and get an answer drawn only from the documents, with every claim linked to its source.
Example searches
- Votes on short-term rentals: Short-term rentals (Airbnb, Vrbo) are regulated as "shared housing units" in the Municipal Code.
- Guevara settlements: Former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara is accused of framing dozens of people; many convictions in his cases have been thrown out.
- Speed cameras: Automated speed enforcement near parks and schools, red light cameras, and the fines and contracts behind them..
- Lawsuit settlements: Large lawsuits against the City, many over police misconduct and wrongful convictions, are settled with the approval of the Committee on Finance and the full Council.
- TIF redevelopment agreements: Tax increment financing (TIF) districts set aside property tax growth for development.
- The City budget: The Council's yearly budget votes: the appropriation ordinance, the revenue ordinance, and the hearings and amendments around them..
- ShotSpotter: The gunshot detection system (ShotSpotter, now SoundThinking): its contract, the push to keep it by ward, and the hearings..
- Migrant shelters: Funding and policy for new arrivals (migrants and asylum seekers): shelters, the budget, and resolutions..
- Parking meters: The parking meter concession, meter hours and rates, and the ordinances that change them block by block..
- The Chicago casino: The Bally's casino: its host agreement, revenue, and the community benefit funds the Council assigns..
Agents can use the same search with a free API key: GET /api/v1/search?q=your+question (optional kind=meeting|matter, year=2026), or the search_documents tool on our MCP server.
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