Title III, Towns, Cities, Village Districts, and Unincorporated Places

I. The elected body may, on specific charges and after due notice and hearing, at any time remove the mayor or one of its own members for cause, including but not limited to prolonged absence from or other inattention to duties, crime or misconduct in office, or as specified in t…

Municipal legislation shall be by ordinance. Each ordinance shall be identified by a number and a short title. The enacting clause of each ordinance shall be "The City of __________ ordains," and the effective date of each ordinance shall be specified in it. All ordinances shall …

Except as otherwise provided, the elected body hereby established shall have all the powers and discharge all the duties conferred or imposed upon city councils in convention, city councils voting concurrently, or boards of mayor and aldermen acting separately, by RSA 44 through …

The charter shall specify a mayor or city manager who shall be the chief administrative officer and the head of the administrative branch of the city government, supervising the administrative affairs of the city and carrying out the policies enacted by the elected body. He shall…

I. The city council shall appoint as city manager for an indefinite term, and fix the salary of, a qualified person who receives the votes of at least a majority of the council. The first city council elected under this charter shall appoint a manager within 6 months after the ef…

Subject to the provision of the charter, the chief administrative officer shall have the power to appoint and remove all officers and employees in the administrative services of the city, and he may authorize and empower the head of a department or officer responsible to him to a…

The elected body shall act in all matters as a body, and shall not seek individually to influence the official acts of the chief administrative officer, or any other official, or to direct or request, except in writing, the appointment of any person to, or his removal from, offic…

The inhabitants of any municipality adopting a city charter under this charter shall continue to be a body politic and corporate under its pre-existing name and as such to enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and privileges and be subject to all duties and liabilities now inc…

The charter shall provide for the appointment of a city clerk, a treasurer, one or more assessors, a fire chief, a police chief, a health officer, a city solicitor, a general assistance administrator, and such other officers as may be necessary to administer all departments which…

The city shall have departments, divisions, and bureaus as may be established by the charter or as the elected body may establish by ordinance. It shall be the duty of the first chief administrative officer, under the provisions of the charter to draft and submit to the elected b…

The fiscal and budget year of the city shall begin on January 1, or July 1, unless another date shall be fixed by the charter or by ordinance, and the charter shall address any interim period or transition.

The charter shall provide for the following: I. A budget submission date and a date by which an annual budget shall be finally adopted by the elected body. Failing final adoption by the established date, the budget shall be determined as provided in the city charter, or as origin…

Subject to the applicable provisions of state law and the rules and regulations provided by ordinance in the administrative code, the elected body, by resolution, may authorize the borrowing of money for any purpose within the scope of the powers vested in the city and the issuan…

The elected body shall have the power to determine that the whole or any part of the expense of any public improvement shall be defrayed by special assessments upon the property especially benefited and shall so declare by resolution. Such resolution shall state the estimated cos…

The elected body shall prescribe by general ordinance complete special assessment procedures concerning plans and specifications, estimate of costs, notice and hearing, the making of the special assessment roll and correction of errors, the collection of special assessments, and …

No employee of the city at the time this charter is adopted shall be required to take any examination in order to continue within the employment of the city. All other provisions of the merit plan will apply to such employees. The incumbents when this charter takes effect who are…

Every person elected or appointed to any city office before entering upon the duties of his office shall take and subscribe to an oath of office, as provided by law, which shall be filed and kept in the office of the city clerk.

Written notice of election or appointment of any city officer shall be mailed to him at his address by the city clerk within 48 hours after the appointment is made or the vote canvassed. If, within 10 days from the date of the notice, such officer shall not take, subscribe to, an…

The city shall continue to be divided into the same number of wards as constituted at the time of the adoption of a charter hereunder, and the general laws relative to wards of cities, officers of such wards and voters, checklists, elections and jurors shall be applicable to such…

The removal in accordance with this charter with or without cause of a person elected or appointed or otherwise chosen for a fixed term shall give no right or action for breach of contract.

Any person who violates any provisions of the charter, unless otherwise provided, or violates any city ordinance for which no other punishment is provided, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, notwithstanding RSA 651:2, be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than 90 …

All records of the city shall be public in accordance with RSA 91-A.

I. City charters may include provisions relating to any or all of the following matters: (a) Referendum procedures whereby voters may petition to suspend implementation of an ordinance, except budget adoption and land use regulation ordinances, enacted by the elected body, requir…

So much of the previous charter of the city and of laws passed in amendment or supplementary to the charter, as now may be in force, relative to the constitution and bounds of its several wards, its school districts and sewer, lighting, and other special precincts and their gover…

The election officers in each ward whose duty it is to conduct regular biennial elections shall conduct a municipal election at city expense in the same manner as a regular biennial election on a date permitted for city elections in RSA 44:11 and specified in the charter to elect…

Persons who would be qualified to vote in a biennial election if held on the day of such municipal election shall be qualified to vote in all elections held pursuant to this chapter, and all such elections shall be deemed elections within the meaning of all general statutes, pena…

The city clerk shall prepare the ballots to be used at the municipal elections. Under charters providing for election by the Australian ballot system, the ballots shall be prepared in accordance with the procedure provided for in general election laws governing such system. Under…

Any election contest shall be resolved in accordance with the procedure set forth in the general election laws governing biennial elections.

The governing and legislative body under the mayor-aldermen plan shall be a principal officer called the mayor and a board of aldermen; and, under the council-manager plan shall be a city council, all of whom shall be elected. In the mayor-aldermen plan the mayor shall be elected…

No person shall be a candidate for the office of mayor, councilor-at-large, or alderman-at-large who is not a registered voter of the city. No person shall be a candidate for the office of ward alderman or ward councilor who is not a registered voter in the ward in which he or sh…