Agency Details:

The Commission is an agency of City Government. Its purpose is to prevent and eliminate, to the extent possible, discrimination based on race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, religion, disability or familial status.

Description:
The Human Rights Commission is an impartial investigative agency which investigates and resolves complaints of illegal discrimination in violation of the Human Rights Ordinance we enforce.
Complainants are responsible for: maintaining contact with the Commission; providing a contact person; and providing evidence, or the names of witness(s), that supports their allegation.
As a Commission, the Des Moines Human Rights Commission acts as an impartial investigative resource for citizens and visitors to the City of Des Moines. We work in partnership with various organizations to provide both resolutions of discrimination complaints as well as education and training programs to further voluntary compliance with our civil rights laws. It is our ultimate goal to create fair, non-discriminatory opportunities for all people in Des Moines in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations and municipal practices. Without this system of justice, the city of Des Moines would lose the potential for contributions from all members of our society and lose the image as a safe, welcoming environment for all persons.

History:
The Des Moines Human Rights Commission was established in 1954. Since that time, it continues to strive to advance justice and equality for all people in Des Moines by preventing and eliminating discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on age, race, religion, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, religion, disability or familial status.

Contact people:

Rudy Simms, Director, (phone), (email) Jordan Homer, VISTA Volunteer, (phone), (email)

Address:

602 E Robert D Ray Drive Des Moines, IA 50309 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/departments/hrt/index.htm

Last updated on July 7, 2009