Chicago 311 Alternative | Community Reporting App

How Offendr works with 311

Same 311 system. A lot more around it.

Chicago 311 is the city's official service request system. Offendr connects directly to it via the Open311 API — your reports land in exactly the same place — but wraps it in a community platform that 311 itself can never be.

1

Open Offendr and sign in

Quick email sign-in gives you access to the full platform — reporting, map, feed, projects and all.

2

Report any civic issue

Potholes, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, flooding, dumping, streetlights and more. Select the type, pin the location, add a photo, and submit.

3

Your report goes straight to 311

Offendr routes each report type to the correct Chicago 311 service code via the Open311 API. You get a service request number immediately.

4

Track it until it's resolved

Offendr polls 311 and updates your report status automatically — from Open to In Progress to Completed.

About Chicago 311

What Chicago 311 does — and what Offendr adds

Chicago 311 is the city's non-emergency service request system, launched in 1999 to handle everything that doesn't require police, fire, or ambulance. Residents can report street and infrastructure problems, request city services, and track the status of open requests. The system handles millions of service requests each year across hundreds of service types.

311 does its job well. The problem is the experience around it. The city's portal and app are functional but utilitarian — you file a report, you get a number, you check back manually. There's no map of what your neighbors have reported, no community context, no local news, no projects, no sense that other people are paying attention to the same block you are.

That's the gap Offendr fills. It connects directly to 311 via the Open311 API — a public standard that lets third-party apps submit and track requests in the city's official system — but layers a full community platform on top. You see what's already been reported near you, you can join fix-it projects, follow local news, discover volunteer opportunities, and share events. The civic engagement that 311 can't provide.

The most common things people report via Offendr and 311: potholes, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, illegal dumping, broken streetlights, and flooding.

Common questions

Chicago 311 FAQs

Everything you need to know.

Chicago 311 is the city's non-emergency service request system. Residents use it to report street and infrastructure problems, request city services, and track open requests. It handles millions of requests per year across hundreds of service types.

311 handles a wide range of civic issues — potholes, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, illegal dumping, broken streetlights, flooding, rodent sightings, tree trimming, garbage pickup issues, and much more. Offendr supports the most common report types and routes each one to the correct 311 service code automatically.

No. Offendr is an independent civic app that connects to Chicago's official 311 system via the Open311 API. Your reports go to the same city system as if you'd used the official CHI311 app or called 311 directly — but Offendr adds a community map, local news feed, fix-it projects, and status tracking on top.

Response times vary by issue type. Potholes target 3 business days. Graffiti targets 7 days. Abandoned vehicles require 7 days on-site before the city can act. Streetlights target 3 days. Offendr tracks your report's status automatically so you don't have to check manually. See our Chicago 311 wait times guide for a full breakdown.

Yes. Every report submitted through Offendr gets a 311 service request number, and Offendr polls the city's system to update the status automatically. You'll see when your report moves from Open to In Progress to Completed without having to visit the 311 portal.

A Better Way to Connect with Chicago 311