Louisville Metro Council

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Louisville Metro Council
Type
Type	Unicameral of Louisville/Jefferson County Metro, Kentucky
Term limits	None
History
Founded	January 1, 2003 (2003-01-01)
Preceded by	Louisville Board of Alderman and Jefferson County Fiscal Court
New session started	January 3, 2023
Leadership
President	Markus Winkler (D) since January 3, 2023
Majority Caucus Leader/President Pro-Tempore	Paula McCraney (D) since January 3, 2023
Minority Caucus Leader	Anthony Piagentini (R) since January 3, 2023
Womans Caucus Leaders	Paula McCraney & Jennifer Chappell (D) since March 23, 2023
Structure
Seats	26 members
Political groups	Majority (17)   Democratic (17) Minority (9)   Republican (9)
Length of term	Four years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	November 8, 2022
Next election	November 12, 2024
Redistricting	2020
Meeting place
Louisville City Hall
Website
louisvilleky.gov/government/metro-council
Rules
louisvilleky.gov/metro-council/document/mc-rules-02202023

The Louisville Metro Council is the city council of Louisville, Kentucky (Louisville Metro). It was formally established in January 2003 upon the merger of the former City of Louisville with Jefferson County and replaced the city's Board of Aldermen and the county's Fiscal Court (three county commissioners). Louisville City Hall houses the offices and chambers of the council.

The Metro Council consists of twenty-six seats corresponding to districts apportioned by population throughout Jefferson County. Although all cities in Jefferson County, apart from Louisville, retained their status after the merger, their residents are represented on Metro Council and vote alongside other county residents. The seats come up for reelection every four years, using a staggered process so that only half of the seats are up every two years.

Since the council's inception, Democrats have maintained a majority in the chamber, currently with seventeen members (65%). Democrats gained two seats in the 2010 election, gained another two seats in the 2018 midterms, and lost two seats in the 2022 election.