Home rule in the United States

In the United States, the legislative authority granted to local governments varies by state. In some states, known as Home Rule States, an amendment to the state constitution grants cities, municipalities, and/or counties the ability to pass laws to govern themselves as they see fit (so long as they obey the state and federal constitutions). In other states, only limited authority has been granted to local governments by passage of statutes in the state legislature. In these states, a city or county must obtain permission from the state legislature if it wishes to pass a law or ordinance which is not specifically permitted under existing state legislation. Most non-home rule states apply the principle known as Dillon's Rule to determine the bounds of a municipal government's legal authority.

Home Rule and Dillon's Rule states

The following chart indicates which of the 50 U.S. states are home rule states and which states obey the legal principle of Dillon's Rule for determining local government authority. A state in this chart with "Limited" home rule may grant home rule to particular cities and municipalities individually but has no constitutional amendment guaranteeing home rule. A state which is both a home rule state and a Dillon's Rule state applies Dillon's Rule to matters or governmental units not accounted for in the constitutional amendment or statutes which grant home rule. The source for the table is at this reference.

The District of Columbia has a limited form of home rule granted by the Federal Government; see District of Columbia home rule for details.

State	Home Rule State?	Dillon's Rule State?	Comments
Alabama	No	Yes	Dillon's Rule applies only to counties.
Alaska	Yes	No
Arizona	Yes	Yes
Arkansas	Limited	Yes
California	Yes	Yes	Dillon's Rule does not apply to charter cities.
Colorado	Yes	Yes
Connecticut	Yes	Yes
Delaware	No	Yes
Florida	Yes	Unclear	Conflicting statutes address Dillon's Rule.
Georgia	Yes	Yes	Home rule specifically granted in Article IX of Georgia Constitution
Hawaii	Yes	Yes
Idaho	Yes	Yes
Illinois	Yes	Yes	Dillon's Rule applies to municipalities not individually granted home rule.
Indiana	Limited	Yes	Dillon's Rule applies only to townships.
Iowa	Yes	No
Kansas	Limited	Yes	Dillon's Rule does not apply to cities or counties.
Kentucky	All cities	Yes
Louisiana	Yes	Yes	Dillon's Rule only applies to charter municipalities established before 1974.
Maine	Yes	Yes
Maryland	Yes	Yes
Massachusetts	Yes	No
Michigan	Yes	Yes
Minnesota	Yes	Yes
Mississippi	No	Yes
Missouri	Yes	Yes
Montana	Yes	No
Nebraska	No	Yes
Nevada	Yes, home rule legislation passed and took effect July, 2015	No
New Hampshire	No	Yes
New Jersey	Yes	No
New Mexico	No	No
New York	Yes	Yes
North Carolina	Limited	Yes
North Dakota	Yes	Yes
Ohio	Yes	No
Oklahoma	No	Yes
Oregon	Yes	No
Pennsylvania	Yes	Yes
Rhode Island	Yes	Yes
South Carolina	Limited	No
South Dakota	Yes	Yes
Tennessee	Yes	Yes	Dillon's Rule applies only to non-home rule municipalities.
Texas	Limited	Yes	Cities may adopt home rule once their population exceeds 5,000 and the voters adopt a city charter (the provisions of which cannot be inconsistent with either the Texas Constitution or general law); if the population subsequently falls below 5,000 the charter remains in force and may be amended. Otherwise, cities with populations of 5,000 or less are chartered by general law only. School districts may adopt home rule for school districts, but none have chosen to do so. Counties and "special districts" (other special-purpose governmental entities besides cities and school districts) are prohibited from adopting home rule.
Utah	Limited	No
Vermont	No	Yes
Virginia	No	Yes
Washington	Yes	Yes
West Virginia	No*	No	Dillon's Rule was effectively abolished in the 1969 Municipal Code, §7, Article 1. *The state has conducted a home rule pilot program which is due to stop by the end of 2017.
Wisconsin	Limited	Yes
Wyoming	No	Yes

See also

• Home rule
• District of Columbia home rule
• Municipal corporation