Yes, local governments can make their own laws. Cities, counties, and towns routinely pass binding rules called ordinances that cover zoning, noise, business licensing, parking, health codes, and much more. What they cannot do is act on their own authority: every ordinance rests on power the state has delegated, and every ordinance has to stay inside the lines drawn by state law, federal law, and the Constitution. Cross those lines and the ordinance is void, no matter how many council members voted for it.
Where the Power Comes From
The U.S. Constitution never mentions cities, counties, or towns. The Tenth Amendment reserves powers not given to the federal government “to the States respectively, or to the people.”1Constitution Annotated. Tenth Amendment Local governments exist only because states create them and hand down a share of governing authority. In 1907, the Supreme Court described municipalities as “political subdivisions of the State, created as convenient agencies for exercising such of the governmental powers of the State as may be entrusted to them,” and said a state can expand, contract, or dissolve them at will.2Library of Congress. Hunter v. Pittsburgh, 207 U.S. 161 (1907)
How much room a local government has to legislate depends on which framework its state uses. Some states keep local governments on a short leash. Others give them a general grant of authority. A handful mix the two.
Dillon’s Rule
Named for nineteenth-century Iowa Judge John Forrest Dillon, this framework says a local government can exercise only three kinds of power: what the state expressly grants, what is necessarily implied by those grants, and what is essential to carrying out the local government’s core purpose. Roughly 39 states use some version of Dillon’s Rule, though about a third of those apply it selectively rather than across the board. The practical effect: if the state legislature hasn’t specifically authorized a city or county to regulate something, it probably can’t.
Home Rule
Home Rule works the other way around. States that grant Home Rule authority, usually through their constitutions, give local governments a general power to govern themselves on local matters without asking permission for each specific action. A municipality can pass ordinances on subjects that state or federal law hasn’t already occupied. About ten states rely primarily on Home Rule. Even so, a Home Rule ordinance that conflicts with state law still loses. Home Rule broadens the starting position; it does not make local government supreme.
What Local Governments Typically Regulate
The scope of local lawmaking is wider than most people notice until an ordinance affects them personally. Zoning is the most visible piece: local governments divide their territory into residential, commercial, and industrial districts, control building heights and setbacks, and set the rules for what you can do with your property. But local authority reaches further.
- Public health and safety, including sanitation standards, noise limits, animal control, fire codes, and restaurant inspections.
- Traffic and parking rules on local roads, including speed limits, parking restrictions, crosswalks, and bike lanes.
- Business regulation through licensing, operating hours, and signage requirements.
- Local taxes and fees, such as property taxes, hotel occupancy taxes, utility fees, and building permit charges.
- Nuisance rules covering overgrown lots, abandoned vehicles, and similar neighborhood conditions.
- Environmental measures like stormwater management, tree preservation, and local recycling requirements.
Local governments can also create special assessment districts to fund specific infrastructure projects such as road improvements or new water lines. Unlike general property taxes, special assessments charge only the property owners who directly benefit from the improvement, and the amount each owner pays is tied to the benefit their property receives.3FHWA. Special Assessments Fact Sheet Jurisdictions that have hit their tax caps sometimes use assessments as an alternative funding mechanism because they are classified as fees rather than taxes.
Newer areas keep emerging. Many cities now require registration for short-term rental hosts using platforms like Airbnb, cap rental days per year, or ban short-term rentals in certain residential zones. Ride-sharing rules, electric scooter regulations, and drone ordinances are other examples of local governments adapting to technology that didn’t exist when their charters were written.
Ordinances vs. Resolutions
Not everything a city council passes carries the force of law. An ordinance creates a binding legal rule with penalties for violations, and residents must comply. A resolution expresses the governing body’s position or authorizes a specific administrative action, but it doesn’t carry that same legal force. A council might pass a resolution declaring support for a cause or directing staff to study an issue; an ordinance would actually change what you’re required to do.
Procedures differ too. Ordinances typically go through multiple readings at consecutive meetings, require public notice, and may need the mayor’s signature. Resolutions can often be adopted in a single meeting with less formal procedure. When a local government “passes a law,” what it has passed is almost always an ordinance.
The Limits on Local Lawmaking
Local authority is bounded on every side. Some limits come from above, imposed by federal and state law. Others come from constitutional protections no level of government can override. These are not technicalities. An ordinance that crosses one of these lines is subject to being struck down.
Federal Preemption
The Supremacy Clause makes federal law “the supreme Law of the Land,” binding on judges in every state regardless of anything in state or local law to the contrary.4Constitution Annotated. Overview of Supremacy Clause When Congress legislates in an area, conflicting local ordinances are invalid.
Two examples show how this plays out. The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act prohibits local governments from imposing zoning rules that substantially burden religious exercise unless the rule serves a compelling interest and uses the least restrictive means available.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 2000cc – Protection of Land Use as Religious Exercise A city can’t use its zoning code to keep a mosque, church, or synagogue out of a neighborhood, or treat religious institutions worse than secular ones.6U.S. Department of Justice. Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
The Telecommunications Act limits local control over wireless facilities. Local governments can regulate where cell towers go, but they cannot effectively ban wireless service, discriminate among competing providers, or base placement decisions on radio frequency emission concerns as long as the facility meets federal standards.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 USC 332 – Mobile Services A denial must be in writing and supported by substantial evidence, and the applicant can challenge it in court within 30 days.
State Preemption
State preemption is the more common constraint. States increasingly pass laws that explicitly block local governments from regulating certain subjects. Firearms are the most widespread example: a majority of states have laws preventing cities from enacting their own gun regulations. Other common preemption targets include minimum wage (states blocking local increases above the state floor), rent control, plastic bag bans, and paid sick leave requirements. In some states, preemption laws carry financial penalties for local officials who try to pass preempted ordinances anyway.
Preemption can be express, where the state statute says local governments may not act in a certain area, or implied, where the state has regulated the subject so thoroughly that no room is left for local action. It can also arise from direct conflict: if a local ordinance permits something state law prohibits, or vice versa, the state law wins.
Constitutional Rights
Every ordinance has to respect the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the relevant state constitution. A city can’t pass a noise ordinance so broad that it effectively bans political protests. A county can’t adopt a licensing scheme that gives officials unchecked discretion to suppress speech they dislike. Zoning rules can’t be applied in ways that discriminate based on race, religion, or national origin. Anyone affected by an ordinance that infringes on constitutional rights can challenge it in court.
Ultra Vires Actions
When a local government passes a law or takes an action beyond its delegated authority, that action is “ultra vires” and legally void. Good intentions don’t save it. A unanimous vote doesn’t save it. If the state never gave the local government power to act in that area, the ordinance has no legal effect. In Dillon’s Rule states the boundary is especially sharp, because any power not expressly or impliedly granted simply doesn’t exist. Courts that find a local action ultra vires treat it as if it never happened, and contracts entered into under void authority are generally unenforceable.
Challenging a Local Law You Think Is Invalid
If you believe an ordinance exceeds the local government’s authority or violates your rights, you have options, but courts expect you to exhaust administrative remedies before filing a lawsuit. For zoning and land use decisions, most jurisdictions have a board of appeals that reviews enforcement actions and permit denials. Only after that internal process is complete can you take the matter to court, and the deadlines for filing a court challenge are typically short.
The most common legal grounds for overturning an ordinance are:
- Preemption, meaning the ordinance conflicts with state or federal law on the same subject.
- Ultra vires, meaning the local government lacked authority to pass it in the first place.
- Constitutional violation, meaning the ordinance infringes on protected rights like free speech, equal protection, or due process.
- Void for vagueness, meaning the ordinance is so unclear a reasonable person can’t tell what conduct is prohibited. Courts have held that laws must give “the person of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited” and cannot leave enforcement to the subjective judgment of individual officers.8Constitution Annotated. Overview of Void for Vagueness Doctrine
Challenging an ordinance takes time and money. If you’re facing enforcement of a law you believe is defective, complying under protest while pursuing the challenge is almost always smarter than ignoring the ordinance and letting violations accumulate.
Finding Your Local Ordinances
Every local government has to make its ordinances available to the public. The best starting point is your city or county’s official website, which usually has a “Municipal Code” or “Code of Ordinances” section. Many jurisdictions contract with online publishers such as Municode or American Legal Publishing to host searchable versions of the full local code, with keyword search, subject browsing, and update dates.
If you can’t find what you need online, the city or county clerk’s office maintains the official record of enacted ordinances and will provide copies on request. For proposals that haven’t been enacted yet, check meeting agendas and minutes on the governing body’s website, where pending legislation is posted before public hearings. Reading the code yourself is worth the effort when a regulation touches your property or your business. Secondhand summaries are where costly mistakes come from.