Introduction.Local self-government in the modern historyof Russia is in constant transformation. Many changesto the basic law on local self-government testify to the search for an optimal model for organizing local authori-ties. The institutionof public control that has appeared recently has become widespread in local self-government. New areas of activity of local authorities cannot be implemented without the participation and control of society. The purpose of the studyis the scientific analysis, evaluation and justification of public control in the field of local self-government as a necessary element of municipal democracy. Methods.The methodological basis of the study covers the totality of general and special methods of cognition. Among them are analysis, synthesis and analogy. However, mainly, special legal methods were applied (formal-legal, system-structural, comparative).Research, results, discussions.It has been revealed that at the local level, new tasks have appeared that local governments can only solve together with the population. In this case, the public control is also assigned to the population. An example is one of the national projects –“Formation of a comfortable urban environment”, the implementation of which requires the involvement of the population. The analysis showed that the selection of courtyards and public spaces, included in the list for priority improvement of the municipality, occurs only after the procedure of public discussion by residents. Further, residents by means of rating votingdetermine the specific territories to be improved. The local community also exercises public control at all stages of the project. Conclusion. As a result of the study, a proposal has beendevelopedto improve legislation in terms of consolidating public control as a new form of municipal democracy.