Update, October 21, 2026. Lawrence City Clerk Eileen Bernal told WBUR her office certified 170 signatures on the recall affidavit, more than the 100 required, and that organizers are expected to receive the petition this week. They will then have 30 days to collect signatures from more than 7,000 registered voters; Boston 25 News put the number at 7,079. According to Bernal, if enough signatures are certified, DePeña would have five days to resign, and if he does not, the question goes to a special election in which voters would also choose among candidates to replace him. DePeña declined to comment on the vote and the recall effort, WBUR reported. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is presumed innocent.
Update, October 21, 2026. The full City Council approved the no-confidence vote on Tuesday night, October 20. WCVB and 7News reported the tally as five in favor, one against and three voting present; NBC10 Boston reported six in favor. The vote is symbolic and does not remove DePeña, who has said he will not resign. Councilor Marc Laplante, who voted no, said the question of confidence “should be decided by the people of Lawrence,” NBC10 reported. Removal would take a recall. NBC10 reported that recall organizers must collect 7,000 signatures in 30 days. DePeña has pleaded not guilty to the state wiretapping and witness intimidation charges and to the federal charges, and is presumed innocent.
Update, October 15, 2026. A resident, Sarah Perez, is leading a recall effort against Mayor DePeña, NBC10 Boston reported. “In this case, the only option we have legally is a recall and that’s why we started this process,” she said. Council President Jeovanny Rodriguez said the full council will make its no-confidence determination next Tuesday. The no-confidence vote is symbolic; recall, explained below, is the removal route. DePeña has pleaded not guilty to the state charges and is presumed innocent on all charges.
Update, October 14, 2026. The Lawrence City Council moved the no-confidence resolution against Mayor Brian DePeña forward this week, sending it to the full council, which is expected to take it up again next week, 7News and Boston 25 News reported. Councilor Marc Laplante voted against the resolution but said he supports the recall petition. The resolution is symbolic and does not remove the mayor. DePeña has said he will not resign, has pleaded not guilty, and is presumed innocent; he is due back in court December 9.
Update, October 13, 2026.
Update, October 13, 2026: Mayor Brian DePeña pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Essex Superior Court to the 15 state charges (14 counts of wiretapping and one count of witness intimidation), NBC10 Boston and 7News reported. NBC10 reported he was released on personal recognizance and that a status hearing is set for December 9. The City Council was scheduled to take up a no-confidence measure Tuesday night. He is presumed innocent.
Update, October 13, 2026. Update, October 13, 2026: NBC10 Boston reports the Lawrence City Council is getting ready to take up the no-confidence vote Tuesday night, the same day DePeña is arraigned in Lawrence Superior Court on the state wiretapping and witness intimidation indictments. As explained below, a no-confidence vote has no legal power to remove him.
Update and correction, October 7, 2026. The council did not hold the vote. Suspending a council rule to take it up required six votes and got five, so the measure went to a committee of all nine councilors for discussion next week, MassLive reported. DePeña asked the council in a statement not to pass it. This post originally described the federal case as one count each of wire fraud and money laundering, which was the August complaint; he has since been indicted on 11 counts. We have corrected that below.
The Lawrence City Council scheduled a vote of no confidence in Mayor Brian DePeña for its meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 6, 2026. DePeña faces federal wire fraud and money laundering charges and a 15-count state indictment, and he has refused to resign. He is presumed innocent on all of it.
A no-confidence vote cannot remove him. As NBC10 Boston put it, the council “can’t simply remove DePeña from office.” So what can? We read the Lawrence city charter and the state statute that applies. There are exactly three ways he leaves office before January 2030, and only one of them is in the voters’ hands.
The charges, briefly
- Federal: arrested on a criminal complaint August 14, 2026, then indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of wire fraud and seven counts of money laundering, according to Boston 25 News and MassLive. Federal prosecutors allege he obtained more than $1.5 million in COVID-era Economic Injury Disaster Loans through Tenares Tire Services, a Lawrence business he owned, and used the money for personal tax debts, his mayoral campaign, and to pay off more than $880,000 in high-interest mortgages, according to Boston 25 News and NBC10.
- State (September 2026): 14 counts of illegal wiretapping and one count of witness intimidation, brought by the Attorney General, over secret audio and video recordings at City Hall. We explained the wiretap law and the charges here.
DePeña was reelected in November 2025 to a second four-year term, which runs until January 2030.
What tonight’s vote does
Nothing, legally. The Lawrence charter does not give the council power to remove a mayor, and a no-confidence vote is a statement, not an order. Council President Jeovanny Rodriguez described it as a vote on confidence in DePeña’s leadership while he faces charges, not on his guilt, NBC10 reported. Rodriguez said that if it passes, “the Mayor needs to rethink his position” on resigning.
The council has also hired an independent auditor, CliftonLarsonAllen, to assess the city’s financial controls. Gov. Maura Healey said Monday that DePeña has “gotta think long and hard about whether he should continue to serve as mayor,” but declined to say he should step down.
DePeña’s response, per NBC10: “the most important trust is the one that god’s people and the people give me every day.”
Way one: resignation
If DePeña resigns, the charter decides who replaces him based on timing. Under the section on a vacancy in the office of mayor, a vacancy “in the first forty-two months of the term” requires the council to “forthwith order a special election to be held not more than 90 days following the date the vacancy is created.” His term began in January 2026, so a vacancy any time before mid-2029 means a special election within 90 days, not an appointment.
Way two: a recall election
Lawrence is one of the Massachusetts cities whose charter allows voters to recall a mayor, and the process has been attempted before, against Mayor William Lantigua in 2011. Section 9.7 of the charter sets out the steps:
- Eligibility. Recall applies to an elected official “whose term exceeds two years with more than twelve months remaining.” DePeña qualifies.
- Affidavit. “One hundred or more voters may file with the city clerk an affidavit containing the name of the officer whose recall is sought and a statement of the grounds.”
- Petition. The clerk issues petition blanks. They must be returned “within thirty days following the date the petitions were issued, signed by at least fifteen percent of the total number of persons registered to vote at the preceding city election.” The registrars then certify the signatures.
- Five days to resign. Once the petition is certified, the council notifies the mayor. If he “does not resign his office within 5 days,” the council must order an election “not less than 65 nor more than 90 days” after certification.
- One ballot, two questions. Voters choose for or against recall, and also vote among candidates to replace him. DePeña cannot be a candidate. If recall wins a majority, the top candidate takes office.
Two details matter. The 30-day signature window is short, and 15 percent is measured against everyone registered, not everyone who voted. And DePeña “shall continue to perform the duties of his office until the recall election.”
Two city councilors told GBH News last month they expect a recall effort. Councilor Marc Laplante said there were active discussions among residents, though he was not calling for one himself. We have not seen a report that an affidavit has been filed.
Way three: a prison sentence
A conviction alone does not remove a Massachusetts official. A sentence can. Under G.L. c. 279, § 30, if a person “sentenced by a court of the commonwealth or of the United States to imprisonment in the state prison or by a court of the United States to a federal penitentiary for a felony holds an office under the constitution or laws of the commonwealth at the time of sentence, it shall be vacated from the time of sentence.” If the conviction is later reversed, the office is restored.
That is a long way off. Neither case has a trial date that we have seen reported, and federal fraud cases often take more than a year to reach trial. Until then, being charged, even indicted twice, does not create a vacancy.
Frequently asked questions
Can the Lawrence City Council remove Mayor DePeña?
No. A no-confidence vote has no legal effect on his office. He can leave by resigning, by losing a recall election under section 9.7 of the Lawrence charter, or if sentenced to prison for a felony under G.L. c. 279, section 30.
How many signatures does it take to recall the mayor of Lawrence?
First, an affidavit signed by at least 100 voters. Then a petition signed by at least 15 percent of the people registered to vote at the preceding city election, returned within 30 days.
What happens if DePeña resigns?
Because the vacancy would occur in the first 42 months of his term, the charter requires a special election within 90 days.
What is DePeña charged with?
Federal wire fraud and money laundering involving more than $1.5 million in COVID disaster loans, and state charges of 14 counts of illegal wiretapping and one count of witness intimidation. He has not been convicted and is presumed innocent.
Sources: NBC10 Boston, October 5-6, 2026; Boston 25 News; GBH News, September 28, 2026. Lawrence City Charter, sections 4.11 and 9.7, read from the city’s posted PDF; G.L. c. 279, section 30 read at malegislature.gov. The outcome of the October 6 vote had not been reported when we published. Brian DePeña is presumed innocent. General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.