Governance & records
Codification / Municipal Code
Your code of ordinances, searchable in two languages and never out of date.
Publish your municipal code as a searchable, readable, bilingual library on the web. Supplements fold new ordinances in as council passes them, and version history preserves what the code said on any given date — for the resident, the contractor, and the city attorney alike.
The challenge
For most cities, the code is a PDF that was last codified years ago, plus a folder of ordinances passed since. Nobody — not residents, not contractors, sometimes not staff — can say with confidence what the current rule is. And for residents who read in Spanish, the code might as well not exist.
In practice
What does the code say — and what did it say in March?
A resident wants to put up a carport and searches the code from his phone — in Spanish — for what the setback rules say. The code library takes him straight to the right section, current as of today, in plain readable text instead of a scanned PDF from another decade.
Two weeks later, council amends that very ordinance. The supplement folds the change into the library, and version history keeps the old text within reach — so when a code-enforcement case turns on what the rule said back in March, the city attorney pulls that day's version in seconds instead of digging through minute books.
What it does
- 01
A code people can actually search
Full-text search across the whole code, tuned for the words residents and staff really type — not chapter numbers.
- 02
Bilingual, section by section
The published code is readable in English and Spanish, so the rules people must follow are rules they can read.
- 03
Version history, point in time
See what any section said on any date — the question every enforcement case and every lawsuit eventually asks.
- 04
Supplements without the wait
New ordinances fold into the library as council adopts them, instead of aging in a binder until the next codification cycle.
- 05
A public library, not a PDF
Sections are linkable web pages that read well on a phone — citable in a notice, shareable in an email.
How it works
Your code comes in
The current code of ordinances is brought into the library as structured, searchable, bilingual text.
Council keeps legislating
Each new ordinance is folded in as a supplement, and the prior text is preserved in version history.
Everyone reads the same code
Residents, contractors, and staff search the same current library — and anyone who needs the past can pull it by date.
English and Spanish
Bilingual by design
The code library itself is the bilingual surface: every published section is searchable and readable in English and Spanish. A government's rules bind everyone, so this module's premise is simple — the people expected to follow the code should be able to read it.
Premium AI add-on
CiVQ AI: ask the code a plain question
Residents and staff ask in plain English or Spanish — "can I build a carport this close to the street?" — and CiVQ AI answers from your published code, citing the exact section so the answer can be checked. Grounded in your ordinances, not the open internet.
Who it's for
Works better together
Get started
See CiVQ in your language.
Book a 30-minute walkthrough with our team in Rio Grande City. We'll tailor it to your city, county, or district.
Bilingual support included at every tier.