CLERK OF COUNCIL

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland pt. ONE, tit. III, ch. 113

in effect

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.01 Designation and Qualifications

§ 113.01 Designation and Qualifications Council shall choose a Clerk, a Chief of the Bureau of Information, a Chief of the Bureau of Budget and such other officers and employees as Council may by resolution determine to be necessary. The Clerk and all such officers and employees shall serve during the pleasure of Council. No person shall be eligible for Clerk who has not had training or experience in legislative procedure or in the preparation of legislation. The Clerk shall have supervision over the assistant clerks and employees of Council. (Ord. No. 975-66. Passed 4-18-66, eff. 4-20-66)

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.02 City Clerk Designated

§ 113.02 City Clerk Designated The Clerk of Council is the City Clerk, as the term is used in the Charter and ordinances of the City or in the laws of the State which may be applicable.

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.03 Recording City Documents

§ 113.03 Recording City Documents The City Clerk shall properly record, file and index all official documents, reports, papers or communications received by Council. He or she shall have the custody and control of all of the files and records of Council and such other official documents and reports belonging to the City as are not part of the records of other offices of the City.

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.04 Recording Public Utilities Documents

§ 113.04 Recording Public Utilities Documents The certified copies of public utility grants, renewals and extensions thereof and all transfers, mortgages and other documents affecting the title or use of public utilities, required to be filed with the City under provisions of Charter Section 187, shall be communicated to Council and be properly filed, recorded, indexed and preserved as public records by the City Clerk.

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.05 Seal of the Clerk

§ 113.05 Seal of the Clerk There shall be a seal of the Clerk of Council, which shall be in the custody of the Clerk and shall be used by him or her in all cases in which he or she is required to use a seal. The seal shall consist of a disc one and three-fourths (1-3/4) inches in diameter, upon which shall be the City banner, surrounded by a circle upon which shall appear the words “City of Cleveland, O.” “Clerk of Council.”

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.06 Duties of the Clerk

§ 113.06 Duties of the Clerk (a) The Clerk of Council shall keep an accurate and correct Journal of proceedings of Council and of each Council committee. The Clerk shall have the custody of all the laws and ordinances of the City, and shall compile and edit the City Record and shall make the City Record available electronically and in print as may be requested. The Clerk shall furnish all transcripts, orders and certificates called for by any person, and authenticate the same by the Clerk's official signature under the Clerk's seal. (b) The Clerk shall, within two (2) weeks after the passage of any ordinance by Council vacating, narrowing or altering any street or alley, inform the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer of the action of Council by mailing the County Fiscal Officer a certified copy of such ordinance. The Clerk shall furnish to the public library of the City, either in print or by electronic means, copies of all reports, Council proceedings or matters produced under authority of the City immediately upon their publication. (Ord. No. 1184-2019. Passed 9-23-19, eff. 9-25-19)

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.07 Payment of Costs for Interpreters, Translators and Auxiliary Aids and Services

§ 113.07 Payment of Costs for Interpreters, Translators and Auxiliary Aids and Services When the Clerk deems it necessary so that the Offices of Council and the Office of the Clerk may maintain compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Clerk may authorize payment of costs to provide qualified interpreters and translators for various languages, qualified sign language, oral or cued speech interpreters, and other auxiliary aids and services, including, but not limited to Braille translation services and computer-aided real-time transcription (CART), and teletypewriters (TTYs). The Director of Finance is authorized to pay such costs from Council's general fund operating budget. (Ord. No. 1187-17. Passed 10-9-17, eff. 10-11-17)

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.08 Bureau of Complaints

§ 113.08 Bureau of Complaints (a) There is hereby established in the office of the Clerk of Council a Bureau of Complaints to be administered and controlled by a Chief subject to the provisions of the Charter and ordinances of the City, and to the supervision and direction of the Clerk. The Chief and the necessary personnel to carry out the functions of the Bureau shall be appointed by the Clerk with the approval of Council. (b) The Bureau shall receive complaints of citizens concerning the public service, refer such complaints to the appropriate department for investigation and report, advise the complainant of the result of such investigation and report and do and perform such related functions as Council shall require. (c) The Chief shall maintain an Information and Complaint Desk in the lobby of the City Hall and at such other places as Council may direct, for the purpose of directing the public to the proper departments and receiving complaints concerning the service to the public by the several departments of the City government. (d) In the handling of complaints the Chief and his or her assistants shall adhere to the following procedure: (1) Receipt of complaints, written or verbal; (2) Acknowledgment to the complainant of the receipt thereof, if received by mail; (3) Investigation and report by the department affected shall show name and address of the complainant, date and nature of the complaint, as well as a statement of what has been done to take care of the complaint and the reason, if any, for the lack of service; (4) Forwarding of one (1) of the copies of the complaint to the department concerned, and retention by the Bureau of one (1) copy in a file known as the open file; (5) Investigation and report by the department concerned shall be completed within five (5) days unless unusual conditions prevail. Such report shall be made upon the blanks herein prescribed; (6) Report from the department concerned shall be entered on the duplicate held by the Bureau and shall be transferred to a closed file; (7) Advise complainant of the report from the department concerned; (8) A complete written report shall be furnished to the Mayor and Council each month. (Ord. No. 672-52. Passed 5-19-52, eff. 5-21-52)

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.09 Municipal Reference Library

§ 113.09 Municipal Reference Library (a) The Municipal Reference Library in the City Hall, a division of the Cleveland Public Library, is hereby designated an official depository library for all printed, mimeographed or typewritten reports and documents issued by each committee of Council and the various departments, divisions or commissions of the City. (b) Whenever any committee of Council, a department, division or commission issues any such report or document, the head of such agency shall cause at least one (1) copy thereof to be promptly deposited in the Municipal Reference Library for the archive collection. (c) There is hereby established an archive room in the office of the city Clerk which shall be under the jurisdiction and administration of the Municipal Reference Library. (d) The Municipal Reference Library shall collect, catalogue, arrange and properly maintain all documents, reports and papers deposited therein, in such a manner so that they may be at all times easily accessible to all members of Council, all City officials and the general public for reference service. The Municipal Reference Library shall further secure such books, pamphlets, periodicals, documents and other literature by purchase or by loan from the Cleveland Public Library and other libraries and sources of information as may be needed by any members of Council or a City official in the course of his or her work. (e) All copies of reports, documents and papers deposited with the Municipal Reference Library for the archive collection shall become the property of the Cleveland Public Library. (Ord. No. 1796-42. Passed 1-18-43)

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.10 Bureau of the Budget

§ 113.10 Bureau of the Budget There shall be in the office of the Clerk of Council a Bureau of the Budget, the head of which shall be a person trained in accounting and preferably also with legal training and experience. He or she shall study, investigate and report to the Clerk on all financial reports, ordinances and accounts filed with the Clerk. He or she shall serve as clerk and advisor of the Finance Committee or of Council as a committee of the whole, when annual appropriation matters are before the Committee. He or she shall keep in close touch with and make investigations into the income and expenditure accounts of the City and the several departments and offices and report thereon whenever Council shall by resolution request. He or she shall make such investigations as Council shall require, and for such purposes he or she shall have all of the authority set forth in Charter Section 46. He or she shall perform such other duties as Council or the Clerk shall require. (Ord. No. 476-40. Passed 1-27-41)

Codified Ordinances of Cleveland § 113.11 Annual Report

§ 113.11 Annual Report (a) The Clerk of Council shall each year compile, edit and have printed an “annual report of the Council of the City of Cleveland,” containing the activities and accomplishments of the Council; and such other facts and statistics, together with cuts and graphs as the Clerk deems advisable. Such report shall be prepared, published and distributed in such manner as the Clerk deems advisable. (b) The Clerk of Council shall receive and keep on file copies of any annual reports for the Mayor, the several departments, divisions, bureaus, commissions and offices of City government. (Ord. No. 1642-92. Passed 11-23-92, eff. 11-30-92)

Source: City of Cleveland, Ohio, Codified Ordinances and City Charter (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/cleveland/latest/cleveland_oh/0-0-0-1789Fetched: 11/1/2026