About CivicLens

Government decisions affect everyone. Understanding them should not require a law degree.

CivicLens translates legislation and city council agendas into plain English so residents can show up informed, participate meaningfully and hold their government accountable.

The Problem

Civic language was never designed for the public

Every week, city councils across the country vote on issues that directly affect residents' lives. Zoning changes that determine where housing gets built. Contracts that decide which companies get public money. Ordinances that set the rules for how neighborhoods grow and change.

But the language used to describe those decisions is written by attorneys for attorneys. A typical city council agenda item reads like this:

"For possible action to approve award of Modification No. 1 to Contract No. 25.MWA458-JG, Rancho Drive Improvements Phase 1 - Sahara Avenue to Charleston Boulevard - Department of Public Works - Award recommended to: LAS VEGAS PAVING CORPORATION ($2,008,842 - Road and Flood Capital Projects Fund)"

Most residents read that and move on. Not because they do not care, but because the language puts up a wall between them and their government. CivicLens tears down that wall.

37,000+
Federal bills indexed
1,200+
Nevada state bills
3
Congresses covered
Real time
Live meeting translation
What We Do

Three products. One mission.

📄
Agenda Translator
Upload any city council agenda PDF. Every item is automatically translated into plain English with a plain language summary, resident impact statement and a bottom line.
📷
Live Meeting Tool
Residents follow along on their phones during council meetings. As each item comes up for a vote, the plain English translation appears in real time with the vote result.
🔍
Legislation Search
Search 37,000+ federal bills and growing state legislation databases. Find bills by topic, track their status and read plain English summaries of what they actually do.
Our Principles

How we think about this work

01

Accuracy over simplicity

Plain English does not mean incomplete. Every translation preserves the substance of the original — who it affects, what it changes and what it means for residents. We do not oversimplify.

02

Government is the authority

CivicLens translations are for informational purposes. The official government document is always the authoritative record. We say this clearly and we mean it.

03

No ads. No data selling.

We do not serve advertising. We do not sell resident data. Civic engagement should not be a product for advertisers to exploit. CivicLens is funded by government clients who pay for the service directly.

04

Built for every resident

Plain English means accessible to everyone regardless of education level, language background or familiarity with government. We target an 8th grade reading level on every translation.

For City Governments

A tool your city attorney can get behind

CivicLens does not replace official agenda systems. It works alongside them. Your city continues to publish agendas through its existing workflow. CivicLens adds a plain English layer that residents can access alongside the official document.

Every translation includes a disclaimer that the official document is the authoritative record. City clients retain full ownership of their agenda content. We do not publish or share city data with third parties.

CivicLens is a Nevada LLC with a federal trademark pending. We carry a software services agreement and privacy policy designed for government procurement review. Pilot programs are available at no cost for 60 days.

Get in touch

Interested in a pilot for your city? Have a question? We respond within one business day.