RULES OF PROCEDURE

The Charter of the City of Dallas, Texas, provides for open meetings of the city council at which reasonable opportunity shall be given for citizens to be heard under such rules as the council may provide. The Rules of Procedure establish guidelines to be followed by all persons attending a city council meeting, including members of the city council, administrative staff, news media, and visitors. [City Charter, Chapter III, Secs. 8 and 10]

Download the full description of rules.

RULES FOR SPEAKERS

A person wishing to address the city council must first register with the city secretary and provide the following information: Name, residence address, daytime telephone number, the subject matter to be presented, and whether the subject is on the current city council meeting agenda. A person may register in person, by electronic mail, or by telephone. The earliest a person may register for an upcoming city council meeting is 8:15 a.m. of the next regular business day following the previous city council meeting. The deadline for registering to address the council at a city council meeting is 5:00 p.m. of the last regular business day preceding the meeting.

Amended operating guidelines will be as follows:

• Citizens who e-mail, call or leave voice messages during normal business hours (8:15am − 5:15pm) may register to speak during the open microphone period, either as a morning or end of the meeting speaker. If the citizen does not specify, they will be registered as an end of meeting speaker.
• Citizens who send e-mails or leave voice messages before 8:15am or after 5:15pm will automatically be registered to speak during the open microphone period at the end of the meeting. The citizen may call back, or leave a voice message during normal business hours (8:15am − 5:15pm) to request to speak as a morning speaker.
• E-mails will also be accepted from citizens who wish to register to speak, when received at the following e-mail address: (citysecretary@dallascityhall.com).
• For purposes of style and formatting, the City Secretary may summarize on the speakers’ list the subject matter on which an open microphone speaker requests to speak.

These changes are being implemented to assist citizens in the process of registering to speak and creating a document that will be easy to read for our internal and external customers.