The City Clerk serves as the Clerk to the City of Rochester's Common Council. This involves expertise in parliamentary procedure, meeting management, creation and distribution of all council agendas, publishing of official minutes as well as all related official notices and documents.  The City Administrator exercises final approval over the content of all City Council agendas. 

Every Council Member has a mailbox located in the mail/copy room at City Hall, located directly adjacent to the Clerk's Office area. Departments distribute mail throughout the week internally and externally. All incoming mail to the City is distributed to individual boxes by the Clerk's Office for Departments, Councilmembers, and the Mayor.

Copies of the Rochester Code of Ordinances and City Home Rule Charter are distributed and retained in the office of the City Clerk. Updates of the Code and Charter are sent on a quarterly basis to a mailing list of individuals selected department, and court officials. Website changes are made through the City Attorney's Office. Visit the Charter and Code of Ordinances on Municode.

The City Clerk is the Chief Election Administrator for the City. The City Clerk's Office hires all election judges and secures polling places in the required precincts of the City. Olmsted County is responsible for ballots, vote counting, and the corresponding equipment such as poll pads, tabulators, etc. 

Administration and coordination of all special City elections are run through the City Clerk's Office. In the event of a Special Election, responsibilities include all publications, printings, judges, precincts, and supplies necessary for a successful election.

The City Clerk is the Responsible Authority in accordance with MN State Statutes for all records and data of the City of Rochester, The official records of the City are retained by the Office of the City Clerk.

 Retention schedules for the disposition of records are approved by adopting the State Clerks' Association Schedule for departmental and permanent storage. 

A data request management software, GovQA, is used to manage and track requests for public data. Records management policy is adopted at the municipal level and updated annually as needed to comport with State requirements.  

The Office of the City Clerk manages the execution of many contracts for City departments through the use of our microcontract process, Docusign, and through automated approval processes managed through our document repository software Laserfiche. 

All annual regulatory licensing, including but not limited to on-sale and off-sale liquor, gambling, contractors, transportation, animals, mobile food units, and special event permitting, are obtained and renewed through the Office of the City Clerk. Two major licensing periods throughout the year occur in the first and fourth quarters. Various licenses require departmental approvals prior to final approval by the Council.

All applications for miscellaneous activities and special events, including events like races, community festivals, temporary liquor and beer licenses, amplified sound waivers, and the use of streets and sidewalks, etc. are administered through the City Clerk in coordination with other departments.

The Office of the City Clerk administers parking violation enforcement, which includes the processing of all tickets, issuance of late notices and issuing collections notices for severely delinquent citations.

The Office of the City Clerk also processes initial review of parking citation appeals, and provides all citation records as needed to the City Attorney's Office, Rochester Police Department, Olmsted County Sherriff's Office, and the Olmsted District Court.  

Various miscellaneous services are offered including the selling of bus passes, notary services, and general customer services through the window in the main rotunda of City Hall.