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Garland, Texas
| Garland, Texas | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Garland
Dylan Hedrick | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2025 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2027 |
| Last city council election: | 2025 |
| Next city council election: | 2026 |
| City council seats: | 9[1] |
| City website | |
| Composition data | |
| Population: | 246,018 |
| Race: | White 35.1% African American 15.1% Asian 12% Native American 1.3% Pacific Islander 0.1% Multiple 17.2% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic or Latino origin 42.7% |
| Median household income: | $74,717 |
| High school graduation rate: | 79.4% |
| College graduation rate: | 25% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 census and 2023 ACS data. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. | |
| Related Garland offices | |
| Texas Congressional Delegation Texas State Legislature Texas state executive offices | |
Garland is a city in Dallas County, Texas. The city's population was 246,018 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The City of Garland utilizes a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council—which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body—appoints a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[2]
Mayor
The mayor is a member of the city council. He or she presides over council meetings and official city ceremonies. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels. The current Mayor of Garland is Dylan Hedrick (nonpartisan). Hedrick assumed office in 2025.[3]
City manager
The city manager is Garland's chief executive. Appointed by the city council, the city manager's responsibilities include overseeing the city's day-to-day operations, planning and implementing the city's operating budget, carrying out council policies, and hiring most city government employees.[4]
City council
The Garland City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for approving and adopting the city budget, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[2][3]
The city council consists of nine members including the mayor. While the mayor is elected at large, the other eight members are elected by the city's eight districts.[3]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Ballotpedia does not cover any additional city officials in Garland, Texas.
Mayoral partisanship
Garland has a mayor who identifies as nonpartisan or unaffiliated. As of September 2025, 66 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 23 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2025
The city of Garland, Texas, held general elections for mayor and city council on May 3, 2025. The filing deadline for this election was February 14, 2025.
2024
- See also: City elections in Garland, Texas (2024)
The city of Garland, Texas, held general elections for city council on May 4, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was February 16, 2024.
2023
The city of Garland, Texas, held general elections for mayor and city council on May 6, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was February 17, 2023.
2022
- See also: City elections in Garland, Texas (2022)
The city of Garland, Texas, held general elections for city council on May 7, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was February 18, 2022.
2021
The city of Garland, Texas, held general elections for mayor and city council on May 1, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was February 12, 2021.
A special election also took place in 2021 to fill an unexpired term for District 1 on the city council. Ricky McNeal was appointed to the seat in December 2020 and held the seat until the May 1 election.
2020
- See also: City elections in Garland, Texas (2020)
The city of Garland, Texas, held general elections for city council districts 1, 2, 4, and 5 on November 3, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was February 14, 2020.
This election was originally scheduled on May 2, 2020, but was moved to November 3, 2020, amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.[5] In a proclamation made on March 18, 2020, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) suspended Sections 41.0052(a) and (b) of the Texas election code. This allowed local governments to move elections scheduled on May 2, 2020, to the next uniform state election date, which fell on November 3, 2020. This suspension only applied to elections occurring in 2020.[6]
2019
2018
The city of Garland, Texas, held general elections for city council and a special election for mayor on May 5, 2018. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election was February 16, 2018. Click here for more information about the mayoral election.
2017
The city of Garland, Texas, held an election for mayor and city council on May 6, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 17, 2017.
Mayor Douglas Athas ran for re-election in 2017. The city council seats in Districts 3, 6, 7, and 8 were also up for election.
2016
Four seats on the Garland City Council were up for election in 2016. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 19, 2016. Since only one person filed to run for each of the seats, the election was cancelled. Had there been any contested races, the election would have occurred on May 7, 2016.[7][8]
2015
The city of Garland, Texas was scheduled to hold elections for the mayor and city council in 2015. Since no candidates filed to run against the incumbents, no election was held. Mayor Douglas Athas and four city council members, Stephen W. Stanley, Lori Barnett Dodson, Scott LeMay and Jim Cahill, were up for election.[9][10]
2014
The city of Garland, Texas, held elections for city council on May 10, 2014. Four of the eight city council seats were up for election.
Incumbents Tim Campbell, Anita Goebel and B.J. Williams won re-election unopposed. Billy Mack Williams won the seat formerly held by John Willis.[11]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Garland | |
|---|---|
| Garland | |
| Population | 246,018 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 56 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 37.5% |
| Black/African American | 15.3% |
| Asian | 11.2% |
| Native American | 0.7% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.2% |
| Other (single race) | 7.9% |
| Multiple | 27.4% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 45% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 79.4% |
| College graduation rate | 25% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $74,717 |
| Persons below poverty level | 12.3% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates by fiscal years running from October 1 to September 30 of the next year. The city's Budget and Research Department is in charge of compiling and developing the annual operating budget, and the city manager presents the budget to the city council and mayor for approval.[12][13]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[14]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[15] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[16] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[14]
Garland, Texas, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
200 N. Fifth St.
Garland, TX 75040
Phone: 972-205-2400
City Secretary's office
200 N. Fifth St.
Fourth Floor
Garland, TX 75040
Phone: 972-205-2404
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also: Dallas County, Texas ballot measures
Garland is located in Dallas County. A list of ballot measures in Dallas County is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Garland, following the death of George Floyd.
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Garland, Texas, as a city or county that did not prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[17]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The mayor is included in this number as one of the city council members.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 City of Garland Home Rule Charter, "Article I - Incorporation, Form of Government, Boundaries," accessed August 10, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 City of Garland Home Rule Charter, "Article III - The Council," accessed August 10, 2021
- ↑ City of Garland, "City Manager's Office," accessed August 10, 2021
- ↑ Mandy Gillip, "Phone conversation with the clerk of the city of Garland," March 25, 2020
- ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Issues Proclamation Allowing For Postponement Of Local Elections Set For May 2nd," March 18, 2020
- ↑ Garland, Texas, "Elections," accessed April 1, 2016
- ↑ Email from Assistant to the Garland City Council on March 29, 2016
- ↑ Dallas County Votes, "Dallas County City Elected Officials," accessed October 22, 2015
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Phone conversation with the Garland City Secretary," October 22, 2015
- ↑ Dallas County Elections, "Official 2014 Election Results," accessed January 7, 2015
- ↑ City of Garland, "2023-24 Annual Operating Budget," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ City of Garland, "Budget & Research," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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