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Municipal Codes and Charters

Updated May 2005.

Municipal codes are the topical compilation of ordinances passed by the local legislative body (the City Council, the Board of Supervisors, etc.). The codes should contain only those ordinances currently in force. City codes frequently include the city charter, setting out the fundamental principles of the City.

Seattle, http://www.cityofseattle.net/html/CITIZEN/cityfacts.htm

This site includes the most current version of the codified ordinances maintained by the Seattle City Clerk’s Office.
The full text of each chapter is available.
Link to Table of Contents provides a menu-based method of accessing code provisions.
Searches by code text or section number is also available.
There are several links to important and helpful information clarifying: the content of the code; how current the code is; and tips on searching.
Responsible party statement and link to “Recent Ordinances” available under each code section are on the first page of the site.
Navigation buttons on code section lead to other resources, including links to city archive materials.

Note: the evaluator has discovered many sites continue to place only a copyrighted municipal code on their site. None of these sites will be considered as model sites because the local government has taken local laws out of the public domain by allowing a commercial vendor to copyright the municipal code. On most of these sites, there are copyright notices that warn the user it is illegal to copy information from the site unless the user first seeks permission and/or pays a royalty to the commercial vendor.

The Dissemination of Government Information section of the American Association of Law Libraries Government Information Policy states: "Federal, state and local governments have a duty to disseminate government information to their citizens. Government information should be available to the public at no or low cost in both traditional and electronic formats. Any revenue garnered by government from the sale of public information should be reinvested in the infrastructure which delivers government information to the public.

"The commercial sector plays an important secondary role in the dissemination of government information. The American public is served by a diversity of information providers. No public or private entity should enjoy a monopoly over any body of government information. Nor should any entity limit the dissemination of government information through exclusive contracts, resale restrictions or other restrictive trade practices."

For these reasons we cannot recommend websites that offer copyrighted municipal codes as their public access codes.

If you can recommend a site that meets the requirements indicated above and scores well on our criteria, please complete our suggestion form.

Disclaimer:
Many links from this site are to sites over which neither AALL nor any of its members asserts any authority or control. AALL assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or veracity of the information that a user may encounter at these sites.

This site has been considered and approved by the American Association of Law Libraries Executive Board.


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About Directory Website Evaluations Best Sites Criteria Submission Form Bibliography Presentations Frequently Asked Questions		Municipal Codes and Charters Updated May 2005. Municipal codes are the topical compilation of ordinances passed by the local legislative body (the City Council, the Board of Supervisors, etc.). The codes should contain only those ordinances currently in force. City codes frequently include the city charter, setting out the fundamental principles of the City. Seattle, http://www.cityofseattle.net/html/CITIZEN/cityfacts.htm This site includes the most current version of the codified ordinances maintained by the Seattle City Clerk’s Office. The full text of each chapter is available. Link to Table of Contents provides a menu-based method of accessing code provisions. Searches by code text or section number is also available. There are several links to important and helpful information clarifying: the content of the code; how current the code is; and tips on searching. Responsible party statement and link to “Recent Ordinances” available under each code section are on the first page of the site. Navigation buttons on code section lead to other resources, including links to city archive materials. Note: the evaluator has discovered many sites continue to place only a copyrighted municipal code on their site. None of these sites will be considered as model sites because the local government has taken local laws out of the public domain by allowing a commercial vendor to copyright the municipal code. On most of these sites, there are copyright notices that warn the user it is illegal to copy information from the site unless the user first seeks permission and/or pays a royalty to the commercial vendor. The Dissemination of Government Information section of the American Association of Law Libraries Government Information Policy states: "Federal, state and local governments have a duty to disseminate government information to their citizens. Government information should be available to the public at no or low cost in both traditional and electronic formats. Any revenue garnered by government from the sale of public information should be reinvested in the infrastructure which delivers government information to the public. "The commercial sector plays an important secondary role in the dissemination of government information. The American public is served by a diversity of information providers. No public or private entity should enjoy a monopoly over any body of government information. Nor should any entity limit the dissemination of government information through exclusive contracts, resale restrictions or other restrictive trade practices." For these reasons we cannot recommend websites that offer copyrighted municipal codes as their public access codes. If you can recommend a site that meets the requirements indicated above and scores well on our criteria, please complete our suggestion form.
Disclaimer: Many links from this site are to sites over which neither AALL nor any of its members asserts any authority or control. AALL assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or veracity of the information that a user may encounter at these sites. This site has been considered and approved by the American Association of Law Libraries Executive Board.