town charters
Local governance documents
Town charters are formal documents that establish a municipality's legal existence and define its powers of self-governance.
Granted historically by monarchs or colonial authorities, and now typically by state legislatures, a charter functions as a town's constitution—specifying its boundaries, governmental structure, and authority to levy taxes or pass local ordinances.
The town charter was amended to allow for an elected mayor.
- decreeAuthoritative legal command
- medieval townsFortified settlements from Middle Ages
- municipal codeLocal government regulations
- ordinanceOfficial government regulation
- sealAuthentication stamp or mark
freemen · city walls · colonial settlements · parchment · burghers · self-governance · statute · law · community identity · Magna Carta · constitution · sworn oath · land grants · common land · vellum · boundaries · document · public records
town chartersstate constitutions
Foundational laws governing subdivisions
federal constitution · royal decrees · federal law · international treaties · national laws
town chartersoral traditions
Culture transmitted through speech
common law · informal agreements · gentleman's agreements · traditional practices