The legislative branch of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge government is the Metropolitan Council.  The Metropolitan Council has twelve members elected from single-member districts.  The districts overlap the Baton Rouge city limits and the parish ward lines.  

All Metropolitan Council members are elected for four-year terms. The next Metropolitan Council member election will be in the fall of 2024. All members must be qualified voters of the parish and of the district that they represent.  The members of the Metropolitan Council are sworn in on January 2nd following the election in the Metropolitan Council Chambers. After the members take the oath of office, there is an organizational meeting during which President Pro Tempore is selected by a majority vote of the Metropolitan Council members for a four-year term.  

     No member may hold any other public office and cannot be appointed to any public office for a period of two years after their service on the Metropolitan Council concludes.      

     The Metropolitan Council also serves as the governing authority of several other political subdivisions and agencies, including, but not limited to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sewerage Commission and the Greater Baton Rouge Airport Authority. 

Meetings

Regular Metropolitan Council meetings are held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at 4:00 pm.  The Metropolitan Council Zoning Committee meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 4:00 pm for the purpose of conducting public hearings and considering items related to planning and zoning.  All Metropolitan Council meetings are limited to four hours from the time the chair calls the meeting to order. A meeting may be extended for a specific amount of time, not to exceed an aggregate of thirty minutes beyond the four-hour limit.  In order to conduct business at any meeting, a quorum of the members of the Metropolitan Council must be present.  

Meeting Notice

The Metropolitan Council Chambers are open to up to sixty members of the public who wish to observe or comment on public hearing items in person beginning on July 21, 2021.   We ask and encourage members of the public to wear a mask while in the Chambers.  

Members of the public who wish to submit comments electronically may access the online comment form.

The Metropolitan Council E-Commenting Policy

Updated July 21, 2021

Metropolitan Council
City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge
E-Commenting Policy for Public Hearing Items
Pursuant to Ordinance 17952

The agenda for each Metropolitan Council meeting will be published by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday preceding the meeting in the Agenda Center  (under the Metropolitan Council tab).

Public comments must be submitted electronically on the E-Public Comment form.

Public comments will be accepted from the time the agenda is posted on the brla.gov website until 30 minutes before each meeting begins. 

Each public comment submission must contain all of the following:

(i)  the commenter’s first and last name
(ii) the commenter’s address
(iii) the agenda item number to which the comment pertains and whether the comment is submitted in favor of the item or opposed to the item, or for informational purposes only.   

All emailed public comments will be provided to the Metropolitan Council members prior to the meeting. The comments will not be read aloud during the public hearing for each item but will be acknowledged by the number of comments in favor of or opposed to the item.  

No member of the public may submit more than one written comment per agenda item.