Which state permits home rule

Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about. The U. Constitution makes no mention of the powers related to local governments — the 10th Amendment reserves those powers to the state.

During the 18th century, cities, counties and parishes across the nation derived their powers from their state constitutions, and these local governments relied upon their respective state legislatures for all powers.

This was upheld in an 's court case, called "Dillon's Rule," which held for most states through the end of the s. An example of the difficulty in a non-Home Rule era would be the issue of traffic control signs: if a city wished to erect signs related to traffic control horses, wagons, and the newly created automobiles , the city first had to obtain state permission through a special act, or general law of local application.

Cities and counties might seek this permission jointly, or by population category "all cities over 10, in population shall…" but still had to petition their legislators for these bills during each legislative session. It was not uncommon in Florida for more than 2, special acts to be filed in a session during this era.

In the early s, however, states began to adopt "Home Rule" provisions in which cities and counties were allowed to enact ordinances at the local level without state "blessing" — or without the enactment of special acts, general laws of local application, or similar measures.

In Florida, Home Rule language was proposed in the Constitutional revision, and was adopted by the people. Responding to the dissent in his strongly-worded special concurrence in Palm v. Local Government and Affairs Illinois case law has differentiated between what does and what does not pertain to local government and affairs.

Home rule units are favored by Ill. Const, Art. VII, Section 6 m because home rule powers and functions are construed liberally. Such was the case in Village of Bolingbrook v. Citizens Utils. The Illinois Supreme Court found the following aspects of raw sewage discharge in this context to weigh in favor of it being a local problem:.

The Village of Elk Grove passed an ordinance that imposed a fee on landowners seeking to disconnect their property from the village.

Chicago promptly sued for a judgment declaring the ordinance void, and the court—relying upon an earlier decision in La Salle National Trust, N. Even if the fee could be characterized as a tax in an attempt to squeeze the ordinance into Illinois Const.

Conclusion Clearly, the power dynamic between state and local governments experienced dramatic shift in favor of local governments when Article VII, Section 6, of the Illinois Constitution was enacted. Most legal authority in Illinois supports proposition that home rule powers are broadly construed, and courts will generally find in favor of the home-rule unit in the gray areas where state and local concerns overlap. However, the authority of municipalities is conditioned, first, by the specific powers that the legislature grants and, second, by a widely accepted interpretation of that grant of power, known as the Dillon Rule.

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