Take Your Public Meetings to a New Level of Transparency & Efficiency With Municode

We offer the only platform capable of seamlessly unifying your agendas, meetings, websites, and codes of ordinances for an improved civic experience regardless of the size of your local government. 

For over 70 years, Municode has helped connect over 4,300 local governments with their communities by creating solutions that enable you to complete The Circle of Governance™. 

► Click to learn more 

Our public document archival tool, known as MuniDocs, provides local governments an easy, intuitive, and affordable option to archive important public documents. Uploaded documents are converted to PDF, auto-indexed for searchability, and immediately ready for browsing by both residents and staff.  And if Municode is hosting your online code of ordinances, these archived documents can be simultaneously searched and filtered alongside your existing code of ordinances.  

     
Codification and Recodification

Codification is the process of consolidating your legislation of a general and permanent nature and organizing it into a logical and sequential code of ordinances. During this process, one of our experienced codification attorneys will first organize and then review your code in its entirety to ensure that it is grammatically correct, free of conflicts, and internal inconsistencies and conforms to state law.

Municode transfers existing material for you and EMPOWERS YOU to simplify the publishing process from the ordinance to the published code, saving you time and money.

Until early 2018, Vineyard’s code of ordinances was difficult for staff and residents to access.  Staff found it challenging to search for and update any conflicting information. Storage was another issue as some of the older ordinances sat in a potato cellar next to the old town hall. With our Self-Publishing Software, Vineyard modernized its code. Staff and residents could easily access code, and no longer did it sit in a potato cellar. Pam Spencer, Vineyard’s clerk, won Utah Clerks Municipal Association’s "Recorder of the Year" award which she attributes to Municode’s Self-Publishing Software.

Population: 19,537
Winner of 2017 NAGW Members Choice Award for Best Overall Website
Circle of Governance Solutions
►Codification & Supplementation Services​
►Online Code Hosting & Premium Features
►Website Design & Hosting

Population: 13,308
Winner of 2018 NAGW Pinnacle Award for Best Overall Website Small Population County Category
Circle of Governance Solutions:
►Codification & Supplementation Services
►Website Design & Hosting
►Meeting Management Software

Woody Estep, Municode

The Internet has dramatically changed the way local governments engage their residents. Many local government websites offer a quick and convenient way of filing tax returns, paying bills, renewing licenses, signing up for programs, applying for permits, submitting job applications, or performing a wide variety of other services. As a result, many residents can easily access this information seven days a week, 24 hours a day directly from the website without visiting a physical location. Given this reality, it is vital for governments to ensure their websites and web content is accessible for all residents.

 Collaborate with municipal attorneys and clerks from across the country.

Municode provides the use of a listServ, a mailing list software application that allows a user to send one email to a list of email addresses, for municipal attorneys and clerks to share information and facilitate collaboration between geographically diverse municipalities.

Partnering with CommonLook gives us the ability to help local governments achieve higher PDF accessibility levels. Over 70% of the Federal Government utilize CommonLook's Software and Services when it comes to PDF document remediation. CommonLook has been the Industry leader for over 20 years in document accessibility and has been recognized by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3), an international community that works to develop accessibility standards, for its efforts and leadership. 

Client Since: 2017     Population: 3,542

Client Since: 2018

The Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana (LAMPERS) needed to expand its online footprint for its members and prospective retirees. This entailed providing a new website and a platform for their charter, policies & procedures, and member handbook.

The old LAMPERS website became outdated as web standards drastically changed. While it provided almost every resource retirees could need, the overall appearance needed a facelift. They also wanted to look past traditional PDFs for a solution that could host three distinct publications into one easily navigated platform. 

Client Since: 2018     Population: 48,937

Cedar Park, Texas, needed to find a solution that would drastically speed up the creation of meetings documents and software in which staff members could take minutes and vote in. They also wanted a way to upload meetings documents to their website for the community to see. 

No matter how comprehensive your government website design is, more and more communities are seeing the need to develop new, complementary site designs that have more of a marketing feel. We call these ‘specialty sub-sites’.  We leverage your main CMS and database, which allows us to offer these sub-sites with the same functionality as your main site yet with a completely different look and feel including different colors, images and page layouts. We offer the option of having graphic designs for sub-sites that require specialized branding. 

Population: 20,291

Circle of Governance Solutions
►Website Design and Hosting 

The historic American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law on March 12th, delivering $65 billion of direct and flexible aid to America’s cities, towns and villages. After a year of advocacy, the National League of Cities is proud to be a part of this historic victory that will provide much needed relief for local communities across the nation.

The U.S. Department of Treasury is in the process of refining the estimates for allocations from the State and Local Fiscal Relief Funds, but estimations for each municipality have been released. 

As you are aware, in 2020 the South Carolina General Assembly revised the statutes regarding business licenses and taxes with adoption of the South Carolina Business License Tax Standardization Act (2020 Act No. 176); it affects the business license tax procedures for all municipalities and counties which levy the tax.

Partnering with enCode  allows us to turn your land use code into an economic driver for your community. enCode, a leader in Land Use and Zoning Code, transforms code from static words on paper into a dynamic, interactive and fully featured website that will drive economic growth and development in your municipality. 

Why Municode...

Our Word Is Our Bond.

We believe that long-term relationships built on trust, are built to stand the test of time.

Experience.

We are the most trusted and experienced codifier of local government codes in the nation. Our team of attorneys has an average of over 20 years of codification experience.

Quality.

We are committed to excellence in every product that we create. Our team of legal editors and legal proofreaders, each averaging over 8 years of service, is dedicated to providing you with the most accurate and timely service available in the nation.

Self-publishing is not just for your municipal code, whether it’s your policies, procedures, fee schedule, public work standards, technical specification, economic planning, minutes, or other regulations; each of these books can be published and searchable. See how other organizations present multiple publications at once. 

Charter Book/Publication Category

• Charter (Click to see an example)
• Government Subdivision Charter 

Code Book/Publication Category

Population: 38,592
Circle of Governance Solutions
►Codification & Supplementation Services
►Online Code Hosting & Premium Features
►Website Design & Hosting

Municode has been providing codification services to Leavenworth, Kansas, for over 40 years. When the city needed to update its website, they knew exactly where to find exceptional service. Leavenworth’s last major website redesign launched five years ago, with a goal of upgrading the city’s web presence. Unfortunately, the difficult to use CMS resulted in pages that went stale and rarely saw updates. This left citizens unable to access the most current information.  When the team at Leavenworth first started speaking with Municode, the designs and the functionality of the website impressed them, but the affordability raised concerns. Were they really going to get all the tools and great designs at such an affordable price?

► Click here to save your seat for our webinar about the Self-Publishing Software

Population: 7,138
Winner of the 2019 3CMA Savvy Award for Best Overall Website Under 34,000 Population Category
Circle of Governance Solutions
►Website Design and Hosting
►Meeting and Agenda Management

Population: 17,869
Winner of the 2019 3CMA Silver Circle Award for Best Overall Website Under 34,000 Population Category
Circle of Governance Solutions
►Website Design & Hosting

Population: 30,567
Winner of:
2019 NAGW Pinnacle Award for Best Overall Website Small City Population Category
2019 NAGW Members Choice Award for Best Overall Website Small City Population Category
Circle of Governance Solutions:
►Website Design & Hosting 

On a practical basis, determining the status of an ordinance is difficult unless ordinances are codified. If the amending provisions are not inserted in their proper positions and obsolete ordinances are not removed from the books, this forces the custodian of the records (or an enforcement official) to go back to the original minute books. An alternative is to keep copies of amending ordinances with the ordinances that they amend, but this requires the user to look at two or more documents simultaneously and hold their differences in mind--a skill that not many people have. Another alternative is a comprehensive index and tables, but keeping them up-to-date is a time-consuming chore.

Take 30 and watch Kimball Clark, Self-Publishing Guru, take you on an end to end tour of our self-publishing software solution. See how easy it is to publish code with Municode's self-publishing platform by watching it in action.
 

Click to request a password to watch the video presentation below.

Client Since: 2018     Population:  6,718

Laurel, Montana, needed a better way to conduct their meetings. In addition, they wanted to find a way to engage with their residents while saving their staff time. 

For the more robust meetings, Laurel's staff found themselves scrambling at the last minute to put together their agendas, packets, etc. They also wanted to publish their meetings minutes online for residents to see, and their old site made this difficult. 

Client Since: 2018          Population: 19,935

Corinth, Texas, is a crown jewel with much to offer, and an ever-growing city. To keep up with that growth, they looked to Municode to help improve their civic management. Corinth instantly publishes their local government code with our Self-publishing Software, manages their public meetings with Municode Meetings, and has an intuitive and mobile-friendly website. 

Below are some helpful links we have gathered from Zoom. For specific questions and concerns, we recommend contacting Zoom. 

Getting Started with Zoom

Where do I download the latest version of Zoom?
You can download the latest version of Zoom from our Download Center. Learn more about downloading Zoom.

► Click here to save your seat

Because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 through US communities, Federal, State, and local mandates are limiting public gatherings. As a result, Local government operations must transform, including changing the way public/legislative meetings are held. Join us as we share our tips and best practices to help you run an effective virtual meeting.

Join us for an overview of MunicodeNEXT, our online code hosting platform. Steffanie Rasmussen, Vice President of Client Services, will share how you can use MunicodeNEXT while navigating these difficult. 

► Click here to save your seat

Join us for a presentation on how your Municode website can help you communicate with your community. Our website guru, Bob Gieger, will share how easy it is to publish critical content and updates to your website. He'll share how to create a page and publish the information across your website

Because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 through US communities, Federal, State, and local mandates are limiting public gatherings. As a result, Local government operations must transform, including changing the way public/legislative meetings are held. We share our tips and best practices to help you run an effective virtual meeting.

In the wake of  COVID-19, disseminating information is more important than ever.  Quickly and accurately sending out any developments can greatly improve the safety and health of your community. With everyone working remotely, the way municipalities conduct business has drastically shifted. In fact, the use of digital documents has tripled in the past month. This calls for more importance on documents accessible.  

The list below is not exhaustive by any means but should point you in the right direction.  Always consult with your local government attorney for guidance for your particular jurisdiction.  For more information on our Codification Services click here or contact us. 

General Emergency Statue Links:

Client Since: 2019      Population: 7,218

►Visit Their Website
      >Learn more about our Website Design & Hosting Services

Don't just take our word for it, hear from one of our clients. Gustavus, Alaska, utilizes Municode Website Design and Codification solutions. Hear from Karen Platt, City Clerk, and see why they choose Municode to help connect with the Gustavus community and increase transparency.

Carrizo Springs, Texas, wanted a municipal website that was capable of integrating with an automated meeting and agenda software. 

Kick back and relax as Leon Rogers, the National Meetings Products Specialist, takes you on a 45-minute video tour of our meeting management software solution. See how easy it is to use the Municode Meeting's platform by watching it in action.

The ability to sign documents is crucial for any local government to conduct business. As local governments figure out how to work from home due to Covid-19, no in-person meetings may have slowed your processes down. Fortunately, Municode's Self-Publishing Software (SPS) can aid in this process.

Whether you have a policy in place for electronic signatures or not, Self-Publishing Software can assist when drafting and signing documents remotely, and immediately publish changes online to a user-friendly platform. The platform works for handbooks, policies, procedures, and virtually any publication—and all in the same place.

As processes shift toward digital and online platforms, it is important for any local government to stay on top of these trends. One of the these trends is electronic signing, which can help with those working remotely as well as those in the office by speeding up the approval of documents. Municode's Self-Publishing Software has this feature included and 

For over 65 years, Municode has worked with over 4,100 municipalities, creating solutions that enable local governments to connect with their communities.

Built specifically for local government, learn what makes Municode Websites...

If you haven't heard the chatter, Municode has been serving local governments for over 65 years. Throughout this period of time, we’ve been extremely fortunate to have grown from one client to over 4,100 local government clients in all 50 states. At the center of everything we do is our desire to connect local governments with their communities in meaningful ways. 

Client Since: 2020     Population: 22,699

►Visit Their Website 
     >Learn more about our Website Design & Hosting Services

Client Since: 2014   Population: 3,285

Gunnison, Utah, needed a robust online platform that could host various books for the community to view. They also had to be able to codify in-house.

Client Since: 1986     Population: 12,459

Client Since: 2019

Project Impact STEM Academy, Idaho, wanted to expand its resources for students, parents, and faculty by offering an online platform to view multiple school publications. 

Client Since:

►Visit Their Publications 
     >Learn more about our Policies & Procedures Software

With a worldwide reach, the Orchard Bee Association (OBA) needed a platform that could effectively host its Standards and Minutes to keep its members in multiple countries informed on important information. 

If you haven't heard the chatter, Municode has been serving local governments for over 65 years. Throughout this period of time, we’ve been extremely fortunate to have grown from one client to over 4,100 local government clients in all 50 states. At the center of everything we do is our desire to connect local governments with their communities in meaningful ways. 

Yorktown, New York needed a new website that was visually appealing and mobile-friendly. The old website lacked many modern features that today's sites have. One of the biggest issues was its lack of style and graphical elements. Though it did provide the community with transparent and informative content, the site felt "bare-bones" at times and needed something more visually appealing to show off the New York City neighborhood.

Municode can integrate your meeting details right into your municipal code! 

Built specifically for local government,  Municode Meetings is the most affordable, easiest to use, end-to-end meeting management solution available today.  With population-based pricing, local governments of any size can take advantage of everything the solution has to offer.  

Whether you work for a town, county, or anything in between, Municode Meetings can increase transparency and transform how you interact with your communities. The automation of manual tasks puts valuable hours, not minutes, back into your busy schedules.

Forest Hills, Tennessee wanted to expand its resources to its community by providing an online code platform and brand new website. Throughout the city's history, residents had two ways of receiving their code: visiting city hall or calling in a request. Visiting took quite some time and proved to be an inconvenience for residents. While requests were a method that could be done without leaving the home, they could take several days to fill as staff would need to sift through various codebooks to find the specific code that was requested.

Listen to Kimball Clark, Self-Publishing Product Expert, share the power of our Self-Publishing Software.

Click here to request a password to watch our recorded tour.

As new advancements in Information Technology come to fruition, it is more crucial than ever for local governments to be at the forefront of them. WheBut for those who work in smaller governments, this may not seem like a reality. You may think they cost too much, are too big for your population, or are too much for your smaller staff to handle. At Municode, however, these are misconceptions. 

Codification refers to the process of arranging Codes of Ordinances in a logical and organized manner. For almost all municipalities,  this means having your Code housed in hard copies. Municode started 65 years ago by offering this service and continues to this day. We have also transformed how municipalities codify with an industry-leading innovation known as Self-Publishing Software (SPS). SPS allows municipalities to codify in-house as opposed to the traditional method. Municode is the only company to offer both solutions to fit whatever your local government may need. If you are unsure of which one is right for you, here is some important information to know about each one. 

jirhgoieahvlkadhvklsh

The only solution with industry-leading features allowing local governments to self-publish municipal code in-house! 

Municode recognizes that municipalities are evolving toward a more modern, digital, web-first approach to the way they interact with their communities. Our innovative self-publishing software embraces this evolution empowering municipalities to publish and maintain their municipal code, resolutions, minutes, policies, and any other publication in-house.

The National Association of Government Web Professionals understands the importance of continuing the development of web professionals across all levels. Every year since 2003, NAGW has hosted an annual conference. This year, however, the conference will look different. The 2020 NAGW Conference will be held virtually on September 23 and 24. Municode, as well as our strategic partners CommonLook and Monsido, will be giving a presentation titled "To Infinity and Beyond! Accessibility Now and into the Future"  on the second day of the conference from 1:30-2:30 PM (CST).

Each year, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) hosts one of the largest conferences for local governments. While an in-person event could not be held this year, ICMA is hosting Unite - A Virtual Event from September 23-26. The digital event will feature keynote speakers, 100 plus educational events, celebrity entertainment, networking opportunities, and a virtual exhibition hall. Municode is proud to be an exhibitor this year at Unite and we look forward to seeing you there. You can register for the event here. Municode's booth can be found here.

Population: 38,592

Winner of 2020 Web Awards Standard of Excellence

Circle of Governance Solutions
►Codification & Supplementation Services
►Online Code Hosting & Premium Features
►Website Design & Hosting

Each year, the Louisiana Municipal Association hosts its Annual Convention. This year the convention has moved online and will take place from October 13-15 and October 20-22. Municode will be presenting Wednesday, October 21st on "Ten Best Practices To Enhance Your Public Meetings" with Leon Rogers and Woody Estep. To register for the event, click here.

Client Since: 2020

The Children's Trust of Alachua County, Florida, is a newly created trust that "funds and supports a coordinated system of community services that allows all youth and their families to thrive." Currently, in its first few years of operation, they wanted to utilize a suite of industry-leading software to ensure they started off strong. 

Below we've compiled resources for our Municode products. Browse through the different solutions to see tips and tricks! If you have any questions not answered in the videos, please contact us, we're here to help make sure each local government gets the most out of our solutions. 

Each year, the Colorado Municipal Clerk's Association (CMCA) holds an annual conference. While an in-person event could not take place this year,  a virtual conference will be held from October 13th through October 16th. Municode is proud to sponsor this year's annual conference to continue the education and support of Colorado's Clerks. This year's theme is "A Vision for The Future" and includes various sessions, networking opportunities, and a virtual vendor hall, where will you find our virtual booth. We are excited to see you there and look forward to discussing how our solutions can Strengthen Democracy for your local government.

Below we've compiled resources for our Municode products. Browse through the different solutions to see tips and tricks! If you have any questions not answered in the videos, please contact us, we're here to help make sure each local government gets the most out of our solutions. 

Client Since: 2020      Population: 124,354

► Visit Their Online Municipal Code

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 passed Congress with strong bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Trump on December 27, 2020.  This relief package provides critical support to the American people and will further strengthen our economic recovery.

Previously, President Trump signed the CARES Act into law on March 27, 2020.  The CARES Act was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and delivered on the Trump Administration’s commitment to supporting the American people through the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19.

This training will cover the following topics:

1. Finding and bookmarking the Municode Meetings Login page
2. Configuring your browser for optimal use
3. Retrieving your password for 1st Time Login
4. 1st Time Login
5. Understanding the Municode Meetings screen layout

Prerequisites

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY Music Credit: Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky

The American Rescue Plan Act gives the U.S. Department of Treasury 60 days from enactment on March 11, 2021, to make their allocations to state and local governments. Considering the complexity of distributing these funds to 19,000 cities, towns and village, the Treasury may take close to 60 days to develop guidance. 

The National Association of Counties (NACo) has compiled information on the allocations for counties.

The current public health crisis and resulting economic crisis have devastated the health and economic wellbeing of millions of Americans. From big cities to small towns, Americans – particularly people of color, immigrants, and low-wage workers – are facing a deep economic crisis. More than 9.5 million workers have lost their jobs in the wake of the pandemic, with 4 million out of work for half a year or longer.

Thursday, May 20 at 1 PM (ET) / 10 AM (PT)

From websites, to videos, to social media, digital content is all around us. But how do you make ensure the content that you're producing is accessible and inclusive for all? 

Join us for a live webinar on Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 2021 for an informative session on how to prioritize accessibility as part of your digital content strategy. In this webinar, we'll cover:   

- A look at 5 key digital content areas to consider

- A practical approach to content accessibility 

- And more...

1.  Innovative Municipal Code Self-Publishing Software:

• Affordable, fixed, annual subscription, regardless of how many ordinances or resolutions you adopt. 
• Instantly maintain your code or any publication
• Provides a detailed legislative history for staff and residents
• Simple to use.

2.  Traditional Codification Services:

• Supplementation schedules to any local government's needs
• Access to the most technologically advanced Online Code Hosting Platform

The Illinois state government recently signed a bill, IL HB0045, to change the titles for elected officials in the state from “alderman” and “congressman” to “alderperson” and “congressperson” to be more gender-inclusive.  “We see a lot of ‘hes’ and ‘hims'” in state statutes, said the bill’s co-sponsor, State Representative Maurice West. “We want to make sure that our voting and our election cycle process is inclusive for everyone.”

Drafting local government ordinances can sometimes be a challenge. It's important for the ordinance to be clear and concise and should be tailored to your community's needs. Many times, a new ordinance comes to life from your local government council meetings that require a change be made to your community's code book. From there, you draft an ordinance and gain approval from your council to amend the code as needed. We've compiled our list of basics to help you draft an ordinance from start to finish.

• Do your research

  • Determine the purpose of the ordinance and how it should be applied.

Client Since: 1985     Population: 18,862

Client Since: 1982    Population: 128,026

Livingston Parish, Louisiana, boasts an award-winning Antique District, but that doesn't mean they want an antiquated local government website. With this in mind, they partnered with Municode to redesign their website and modernize how they connect with their community and visitors. Since 1982, Livingston Parish has trusted Municode to manage their local government code, integrating with their website for an improved user experience.

Client Since: 2020    Population: 2,125

The town of Red Lodge was officially established in 1884. But long before the arrival of permanent settlers, this valley was Crow country, serving the Crow Indians each summer as a place to worship, rest and hunt. With this rich history in mind, Red Lodge looked to develop a beautiful and easy-to-navigate website to showcase their city. In 2021, Red Lodge's website was honorably mentioned in the dotCOMM Awards, an international competition honoring excellence in web creativity and digital communication.

Please enter your name, email address, organization, and a brief description of your background in municipal law.  Once received our staff will review, add you to the listserv, and send out an introductory email to the list.

We're giving away a pair of AirPods! Register to win by entering your information.

Municode is excited to announce we’re hosting a Virtual Ugly Sweater Contest to spread some Holiday cheer.

We would love for YOU to enter! The contest runs December 1 - 16  and the winner will be announced on December 18, 2020. The grand prize is a Municode Swag Box to show off! The uglier the better, we want to see your sweater​!

To enter, simply fill out the form below and submit a photo.