"Home Rule" is a term loosely used, with various meanings from state to state. Actual local self-government on community issues is all but non-existent, and the specific degree of local self-determination can only be understood for any given state or municipal type by closely examining constitutional provisions, state statutes, and codes. Often, seemingly "permissive" constitutional provisions are all but nullified by state statute and administrative codes that relegate decision-making on community issues to regulatory boards and agencies controlled by state legislatures and "special districts" that are responsive to interested industries, but not community constituents.
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STATES THAT PROVIDE FOR MUNICIPAL HOME RULE IN THE STATE CONSTITUTION |
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TYPE 1 = REQUIRES ENABLING LEGISLATION; TYPE 2 = SELF-EXECUTING |
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STATE |
DATE |
TYPE |
Application |
|
ALASKA |
1959 |
1 |
First class cities and boroughs |
|
ARIZONA |
1912 |
2 |
Cities of 3,500 or more |
|
CALIFORNIA |
1879 |
2 |
Cities (and San Francisco city-county) |
|
COLORADO |
1902 |
2 |
Any municipality |
|
CONNECTICUT |
1965 |
1 |
Any city, town, or borough |
|
HAWAII |
1959 |
2 |
All political subdivisions |
|
ILLINOIS |
1971 |
2 |
All cities over 25,000; municipalities optional |
|
IOWA |
1968 |
1 |
Any municipality |
|
KANSAS |
1960 |
2 |
All cities |
|
LOUISIANNA |
1974 |
2 |
Any municipality |
|
MAINE |
1970 |
2 |
Any municipality |
|
MARYLAND |
1954 |
1 |
Cities and towns |
|
MASSACHUSETTS |
1966 |
1 |
Cities and towns |
|
MICHIGAN |
1908 |
1 |
Each city and village |
|
MINNESOTA |
1898 |
1 |
Any city and village |
|
MISSOURI |
1875 |
2 |
Any city over 5,000 |
|
MONTANA |
1972 |
2 |
Municipalities; voter review of 5 options (1977) |
|
NEBRASKA |
1912 |
2 |
Any city over 5,000 |
|
NEVADA |
1924 |
1 |
Any city or town |
|
NEW MEXICO |
1970 |
2 |
Municipalities |
|
NEW YORK |
1923 |
1 |
Cities, towns and villages |
|
NORTH DAKOTA |
1966 |
2 |
All cities |
|
OHIO |
1912 |
2 |
Any municipality |
|
OKLAHOMA |
1908 |
2 |
Any city of 2,000 or more; charter subject to Governor's OK |
|
OREGON |
1906 |
2 |
Every city and town |
|
PENNSYLVANIA |
1969 |
1 |
Optional forms for all local governments |
|
RHODE ISLAND |
1951 |
2 |
Every city and town |
|
SOUTH CAROLINA |
1975 |
1 |
Municipalities, three forms of government |
|
SOUTH DAKOTA |
1962 |
2 |
Any municipality |
|
TENNESSEE |
1953 |
2 |
Any municipality |
|
TEXAS |
1912 |
1 |
Cities over 5,000 |
|
UTAH |
1932 |
2 |
Any incorporated city or town |
|
WASHINGTON |
1889 |
2 |
Any city over 10,000 |
|
WEST VIRGINIA |
1936 |
1 |
Municipalities over 2,000 Nominal, but ineffective |
|
WISCONSIN |
1924 |
1 |
Cities and villages |
|
WYOMING |
1973 |
2 |
Municipalities |
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STATES THAT PROVIDE FOR MUNICIPAL HOME RULE
THROUGH LEGISLATIVE STATUTE |
|
ARKANSAS |
1972 |
|
Any municipality |
|
DELAWARE |
1953 |
|
Any municipality |
|
FLORIDA |
1968 |
|
Any municipality |
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GEORGIA |
1947 |
|
Any municipality |
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KENTUCKY |
1980 |
|
Cities Only |
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NEW HAMPSHIRE |
1966 |
|
Cities and towns |
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NEW JERSEY |
1950 |
|
Optional charter system for municipalities |
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NORTH CAROLINA |
1917 |
|
Any municipality |
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STATES THAT DO NOT PROVIDE FOR MUNICIPAL HOME RULE
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ALABAMA |
|
|
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IDAHO |
|
|
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INDIANA |
|
|
|
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MISSISSIPPI |
|
|
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VIRGINIA |
|
|
|
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VERMONT |
|
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On CANADIAN Municipal Home Rule
*The template used for the chart on this "Does My State Have Home Rule?"
page came from the Vermont League of Cities and Towns' August 2002 Candidate
Bulletin. The original
chart has been modified, and as new information is gathered, it will be
updated.
“Our efforts to bring about reforms in municipal government have thus far largely failed to accomplish what was expected of them because we have persistently refused to recognize the principle of majority rule. We have clung tenaciously to the system of checks and balances with all its restraints on popular control. The evils of municipal government are not the evils of democracy, but the evils of a system which limits the power of the majority in the interest of the minority.” -- J. Allen Smith, 1907, The Spirit of American Government, p. 290
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