See the chart below to determine if you must be a member of CPRS to nominate and/or receive an award:

Entries must be submitted online by 11:59 pm Thursday, December 18, 2025.

Entry fee(s) must be paid online by 11:59 pm Thursday, December 18, 2025.

Note that you MUST hit the button that says 'SUBMIT' after completing your online nominations form tasks.  If you do not hit 'SUBMIT' nor receive a confirmation email from our online system, that means your nomination has not been fully executed and will not be reviewed. Remember to take this final step to ensure your nomination has been received!

All award submissions will be judged by a group of your peers and final decisions will announced the first week of February, 2026. Award winners will be highlighted during the CPRS Connections General Session on Thursday, March 12, 2026 in Long Beach.

Failure to pay the entry fee (if applicable) will disqualify your entry.  

How do I pay my entry fee?

The entry fee must be paid on line at the time of submission.  Purchase orders and agency/personal checks will not be accepted.

Paying your award nomination fee does NOT automatically submit your nomination.  You must use the SUBMIT button to formally submit your nomination for review.  Do not forget this final step!  

May I submit more than one nomination in a specific category?

Agencies may submit more than one entry per category but not within the same class or sub-category.

Tell me more about judging and how to submit a winning nomination...

Entries will be considered complete if all of the required information is submitted. Judges reserve the right to reassign an entry to a more appropriate category. The judges' decisions are final and judging information may be released upon the request of an agency to the Chair of that particular Awards Category. Judges are not required to select a winner in every category. For additional information on how to submit a more effective award nomination, review our "Award Winning Strategies."

Can private firms and/or individuals submit nominations?

Award entries submitted by private firms or individuals, i.e. architects, landscape architects, planners, graphic designers, etc. must submit a letter from their client acknowledging their permission to submit the program or project.

Each entry must complete our online Award Nomination form.  To see an outline of the submission criteria, use the individual award category links to see what will be asked on each application. 

Each category requires and/or requests additional submittal information. Please read each Award Category “Additional Submittals Requested/Required” section carefully to ensure your entry is qualified to be judged. Incomplete entries will not be judged.

Please ensure your photos are of the highest resolution possible (i.e. 300 dpi or higher).

Please Note: All materials will become part of the CPRS library collection to share with other agencies and will not be returned to the entrant. The submission of this application warrants that all materials submitted do not violate any copyright or other proprietary rights of others; that the materials are original works; that any photograph or videos are clear of any ownership or copyright restrictions and those persons in the pictures or videos have agreed to or have no objection to CPRS using the pictures in promoting the agency's program or in any other CPRS material.