Ordinances & Ordinance Books: The Basics Trey Allen UNC School of Government Clerks Certification Institute May 2016 Basic Rule Every city or county ordinance must be either filed and indexed in an ordinance book or incorporated into a code of ordinances. 1
Part 1: Ordinance Books Cities G.S. 160A-78: A true copy of each ordinance must be filed in an ordinance book. Ordinance book must be kept separate and apart from council s minute book. Ordinance book must be appropriately indexed. http://www.cityofcornell.com/ordinancebook.html 2
Cities Ordinance book must be maintained for public inspection in the city clerk s office. Counties G.S. 153A-48: With certain exceptions, ordinances must be filed and indexed in an ordinance book maintained for public inspection in the county clerk s office. 3
Counties Exceptions Budget Ordinance & Amendments Bond Orders Other Ordinances of Limited Interest/Transitory Value Ordinance book must contain section showing Captions of omitted ordinances Page numbers where omitted ordinances may be found in BOC s minute book Part 2: Codes of Ordinances 4
What is a Code of Ordinances? A code is a bound or loose-leaf compilation of ordinances systematically arranged by topic into chapters or articles. Trey Allen, General Ordinance Authority, County and Municipal Gov t in North Carolina (2 nd ed. 2014). https://www.municode.com/library/nc/charl otte/codes/code_of_ordinances When is a Code Necessary? G.S. 160A-77: Every city of 5,000 or more must adopt and issue a code of ordinances. Cities with smaller populations may adopt and issue codes of ordinances. G.S. 153A-49: Counties may adopt and issue codes of ordinances. 5
Advantages of a Code? Once an ordinance has been codified, it may be removed from the ordinance book. G.S. 160A-78; 153A-48. Accessibility to the public Other advantages? Code Rules Supplements or replacement pages should be adopted & issued at least annually, unless no additions or modifications. Code may be divided into two parts General Ordinances Technical Ordinances 6
Examples of Technical Ordinances Building construction ordinances Plumbing/wiring installation ordinances Cooling/heating equipment installation ordinances Zoning ordinances Subdivision control ordinances Code Rules Code Rules Governing board may omit ordinances of limited/transitory value, but code must clearly describe class of omitted ordinances. Budget ordinance 7
Code Rules G.S. 160A-77: Codification of certain zoning boundary and traffic-related ordinances may occur by entries in official map books. Map books must be kept permanently in clerk s office or another city office generally accessible to the public. G.S. 153A-49: Codification of certain zoning boundary ordinances may occur in the same way. Importance of Compliance Failure to codify or file and index an ordinance renders it unenforceable. G.S. 160A-79(d); 153A-50. But consider State v. Desperados, Inc., 194 N.C. App. 821 (2009) (unpublished). 8
Admissibility of Ordinances Introducing original ordinance into evidence in judicial or administrative proceeding can be painful. G.S. 160A-79 sets out when copies of ordinances may be entered into evidence and have the same force and effect of original ordinances. Code adopted and issued pursuant to 160A-77, if it contains statement that code is published on council s order Copy of ordinance set out in the minutes, code, or ordinance book, if certified under seal by city clerk as true copy Copies of part of map book maintained pursuant to 160A-77 and certified under seal by city clerk as having been adopted by council and maintained in accordance with its directions Copy of official list/schedule maintained pursuant to G.S. 160A-77 and certified under seal by city clerk as having been adopted by council and maintained in accordance with its directions 9
Questions? Trey Allen UNC School of Government 919-843-9019 tallen@sog.unc.edu 10