Terms of use

Plain terms for a free public archive. By using Council Record you agree to them.

Last updated October 18, 2026.

What Council Record is

Council Record is a free, independent archive of public council meetings, published by Seattle Digital Commons ↗. It is not an official government record and is not affiliated with the City of Seattle.

Accuracy

Briefings are drafted by software from caption transcripts and can contain mistakes. They're provided as is, without warranties of any kind. Check the cited source before you rely on a briefing, and rely on official City records for legal, financial or other important decisions. To the extent the law allows, we aren't liable for losses arising from use of the site.

Reusing content

• Meeting video and captions are public records from the City of Seattle and its broadcaster.
• You may quote, share and republish briefings and data from Council Record, including through the public API ↗, as long as you link to the meeting page so readers can check the source, and don't present briefings as official statements of the City.
• Council portraits and district maps belong to their credited sources. Follow those sources' terms.

Fair use of the service

Don't overload the site or the API, try to get around rate limits or sign-in, or use the service to send messages to others. We may block traffic that does.

Accounts

Email updates need an account. Keep access to your email or Google account secure. We may suspend accounts used for abuse. How we handle your data is in the privacy notice.

Changes

We may update these terms. The date above shows the latest version.