Chapter 43B

Section 1. This chapter may be cited as the ''Home Rule Procedures Act.'' As used in this chapter, the terms ''board of registrars of voters'', ''city council'', and ''board of selectmen'' shall include any local authority of different designation performing like duties.

Section 10. (a) Amendments to a city or town charter previously adopted or revised under this chapter may be proposed by the city council of a city or the town meeting of a town by a two thirds vote in the manner provided by this section; provided, that amendments of a city chart…

Section 11. Upon submission of the final report of a charter commission under section nine, the city council or board of selectmen shall order the proposed charter or charter revision to be submitted to the voters of the city or town for their approval at the first regular city e…

Section 12. Certificates in quadruplicate shall be prepared setting forth any charter that has been adopted or revised and any charter amendments approved and shall be signed by the city or town clerk. One such certificate shall be deposited in the office of the state secretary a…

Section 12A. A charter submitted to the voters in accordance with the provisions of this chapter which has failed of approval at a city or town election, but which has received the affirmative votes of not less than thirty-five per cent of those voting on the question, shall be c…

Section 13. Any city or town may, by the adoption, amendment or repeal of local ordinances or by-laws, exercise any power or function which the general court has power to confer upon it, which is not inconsistent with the constitution or laws enacted by the general court in confo…

Section 14. (1) The superior court shall, upon petition of ten or more registered voters or of the attorney general, have jurisdiction in equity to enforce the provisions of this chapter. (2) The provisions of chapter two hundred and thirty-one A applicable to municipal by-laws o…

Section 15. (a) A petition for the adoption or revision of a charter shall conform with the requirements of subsection (c) and shall have a sentence in substantially the following form at the top of each page: Each of the undersigned requests that the (city) (town) of . . . . . .…

Section 16. Any paper or document which is required by this chapter to be filed with or submitted to the city or town clerk or a city council or a board of selectmen shall be deemed to be so filed or submitted when it is delivered to the city or town clerk or to his office. Any p…

Section 17. The provisions of chapters fifty to fifty-seven, inclusive, applicable to city or town elections shall apply to the proceedings governed by this chapter so far as apt, but the provisions of sections fifty-five to fifty-eight, inclusive, of chapter fifty-four shall not…

Section 18. Any city or town having a charter under chapter forty-three or forty-three A or a method of electing officers under chapter fifty-four A may change the same in accordance with the procedures for the adoption or amendment of a charter prescribed by this chapter. Except…

Section 19. Clause fifth of section seven of chapter four shall not apply to this chapter. A special law relating to an individual city or town enacted subsequent to November eighth, nineteen hundred and sixty-six in compliance with clause (1) or clause (2) of section eight of Ar…

Section 2. Every city and town shall have the power to adopt or revise its charter or to amend its existing charter in accordance with procedures prescribed by this chapter.

Section 20. The provisions of any charter or charter amendment adopted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed consistent with the provisions of any law relating to the structure of city and town government, the creation of local offices, the term of office or …

Section 3. The adoption of a charter for any city or town under sections two and three of Article LXXXIX of the Amendments to the Constitution and the revision of any charter so adopted shall be initiated by filing with the board of registrars of voters of the city or town a peti…

Section 4. Within thirty days of receipt of certification by the board of registrars of voters that a petition contains sufficient valid signatures, the city council or board of selectmen shall by order provide for submitting the question of adopting or revising a charter to the …

Section 5. The signatures of the following number of registered voters shall be required to nominate charter commission members in cities or towns having the following number of inhabitants: two hundred such signatures if one hundred thousand or more inhabitants, one hundred such…

Section 6. A charter commission shall consist of nine registered voters of the city or town elected at large and by official ballot, without party or political designation, at an election held in accordance with this chapter. The names of the candidates nominated in accordance wi…

Section 7. The city or town clerk within ten days of the election shall notify the nine candidates elected to the charter commission of the initial charter commission meeting. At such initial meeting a charter commission shall promptly organize by the election from any of its mem…

Section 8. (a) A charter commission may adopt rules governing the conduct of its meetings and proceedings and may employ such legal, research, clerical or other employees, who shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one, or consultants as its account may permit. …

Section 9. (a) Within forty-five days after its election, the charter commission shall hold a public hearing. (b) Within sixteen months after its election, the charter commission shall prepare a preliminary report including the text of the charter or charter revision which the co…