City Council Rules

General Rules

Resolution 32096, Seattle City Council General Rules and Procedures, effective August 2023.

Quasi-Judicial Rules

Resolution 31602, Rules governing Council procedures for quasi-judicial proceedings, effective September 2015.

Quasi-judicial actions are those in which the Council is acting as a panel of judges, rather than a legislative body.

Quasi-judicial actions are defined by state laws on appearance of fairness as:

...those actions of the legislative body, planning commission, hearing examiner, zoning adjuster, board of adjustment, or boards which determine the legal rights, duties, or privileges of specific parties in a hearing or other contested case proceeding. Quasi-judicial actions do not include the legislative actions adopting, amending, or revising comprehensive, community, or neighborhood plans or other land use planning documents or the adoption of area-wide zoning ordinances or the adoption of a zoning amendment that is of area-wide significance. (RCW 42.36.010)

The most common quasi-judicial actions that come before the City Council are requests to rezone property and review of major institution master plans.

Historical Rules

Earlier versions of and changes to City Council rules and procedures can be found in the Resolutions and Clerk/Comptroller Files.