Title 40, Municipal Government

The signatures to a petition to initiate or refer an ordinance need not all be appended to one paper. One of the signers of each paper shall make an oath before an officer competent to administer oaths that the person believes the statements in the paper to be true and that each …

Within ten days after the filing of a petition to initiate an ordinance, the city auditor shall examine the petition and ascertain from the voters' register whether or not the petition is signed by the requisite number of qualified electors. The governing body of the municipality…

After receiving the petition for the initiation of a proposed ordinance, the governing body of the municipality shall: 1. Pass the ordinance without alteration within twenty days after the attachment of the auditor's certificate to the accompanying petition; 2. Call a special ele…

If a majority of the qualified electors voting on an initiated ordinance vote in favor thereof, it shall become a valid and binding ordinance of the municipality. Any ordinance proposed by a petition and adopted by a vote of the people cannot be repealed or amended except by a vo…

An ordinance which has been adopted by the governing body of a municipality may be referred to the qualified electors of the municipality by a petition protesting against such ordinance. Such petition shall be signed by qualified electors of the municipality equal to at least ten…

When a referendum petition is filed, the governing body of the municipality shall reconsider the ordinance described therein, and if it is not entirely repealed, the governing body shall submit it to the vote of the qualified electors of the municipality at the next regular munic…

Any number of proposed or referred ordinances may be voted on at the same election in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. There shall be not more than one special election in any period of six months for such purposes.

The city auditor shall cause any ordinance or proposition to be submitted to the electors under this chapter to be published once in each newspaper published in the municipality. The publication shall be made not more than twenty days nor less than five days before the submission…

The ballot to be used in voting upon an initiated ordinance shall be in substantially the following form: Shall an initiated ordinance relating to ______________ (stating the nature of the proposed ordinance) be adopted? Yes ☐ No ☐ The ballot to be used in voting upon a referred …

The governing body of the municipality may submit a proposition for the repeal of or an amendment to an ordinance adopted under the provisions of this chapter. The proposition shall be voted upon at any succeeding regular municipal election. If the proposition submitted receives …

A person is not eligible to hold an elective municipal office unless that person is a qualified elector of the municipality and has been a resident of the municipality for at least nine months preceding the election. A person is not eligible to hold an appointive office unless th…

The auditor, municipal judge, assessor, and the city manager of any city, and such other officers as the governing body may direct, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of their respective offices, shall execute and deliver to the city their separate bonds payable to …

Every person elected or appointed to any municipal office, before the person enters upon the discharge of the duties thereof, shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed for civil officers, and, except in the case of the auditor, shall file the same with the city audit…

Except when otherwise provided by law, any officer or employee of a city is entitled to receive the salary, fees, or other compensation fixed by ordinance or resolution. After having been once fixed, the salary of an officer may not be diminished to take effect during the term fo…

Except as otherwise provided by law, no municipal officer, in a municipality having a population of ten thousand or more according to the last federal decennial census, shall be directly or indirectly interested in: 1. Any contract, work, or business of the municipality; 2. The s…

A municipal officer may not refuse or fail to disclose to the governing board of which that person is a member any personal interest, direct or indirect, in any contract requiring the expenditure of municipal funds. Any person who violates this section is guilty of an infraction …

When any officer removes from a municipality or refuses or neglects for ten days after official notification of that person's appointment to qualify and enter upon the discharge of the duties of the office, the office shall be deemed vacant.

Whenever a vacancy occurs in an appointive office, the same proceedings shall be had to fill such vacancy as are provided for in case of an appointment in the first instance.

Unless otherwise specifically provided in this title, every person elected or appointed to fill a vacancy in a municipal office shall hold the office and discharge the duties thereof for the unexpired term.

Within five days after notification and request, any officer of a municipality whose term has expired shall deliver to the person's successor in office all property, books, and effects of every description in the person's possession belonging to the municipality or pertaining to …

The duties, powers, and privileges of all officers of every character in any way connected with a municipal government, not defined in this title, shall be defined by the governing body. The definition by this title of the duties of municipal officers shall not preclude the gover…

The head of an executive or administrative department of a city may not appoint that individual's spouse, son, daughter, brother, or sister to any position under the control or direction of that individual, unless the appointment has previously been approved by the governing body…

The following officers must be elected in each city operating under the council form of government: 1. A mayor. 2. The council members required under sections 40-08-03 and 40-08-04. Each city operating under the council form of government may choose to have a municipal judge who …

The terms of office of the mayor and council members are provided in chapter 40-08. All other elective officers in a city operating under the council form of government shall hold their respective offices for four years and until their successors are elected and qualified.

Under the city council form of government, the term of each elective officer commences on the first day of July of the year in which the officer is elected.

1. The mayor, with the approval of the city council, shall appoint the following officers: a. A city auditor; b. A city assessor; c. A city attorney; d. A city engineer; and e. Such other officers as the city council deems necessary and expedient. 2. The city assessor shall be ap…

The term of all appointive officers of a city operating under the council form of government commences on the first day of July succeeding their appointment unless otherwise provided by ordinance, and the officers shall hold their respective offices for two years, and until their…

All officers elected or appointed, except the city auditor, council members, and mayor, must be commissioned by warrant signed by the auditor and the mayor or president of the city council. The mayor shall issue a certificate of appointment to the auditor.

The following officers shall be elected in each city operating under the commission system of government: 1. A president of the board of city commissioners. 2. Four city commissioners. Each city operating under the commission system of government may choose to have a municipal ju…

The terms of office of the president of the board of city commissioners and of each commissioner shall be as provided in chapter 40-09. The municipal judge shall hold office for four years and until the judge's successor is elected and qualified.

The term of each elective officer in a city operating under the commission system of government commences on the first day of July of the year in which the officer is elected.

At the first meeting after the qualification of its members, or as soon thereafter as possible, the board of city commissioners shall appoint the following officers: 1. A treasurer; 2. An auditor; 3. An attorney; 4. One or more assessors; 5. A city health officer who shall be a p…

The terms of all appointive officers of a city operating under the commission system of government commences on the first day of July succeeding their appointment unless otherwise provided by ordinance, and the officers shall hold their respective offices for the term provided by…

Any person appointed to any office of a city operating under the commission system of government and any employee of the city may be removed by a majority vote of all the members of the board of city commissioners, but no officer or employee shall be removed except for cause and …

Each city auditor of each city shall keep the city auditor's office at the meeting place of the governing body or at such place as designated by the governing body. The city auditor's salary shall be fixed by the city governing body and the city auditor shall receive no fees or p…

The city auditor, with the consent and approval of the governing body of the city, may appoint a deputy and file such appointment in the city auditor's office. The deputy, if one is appointed, shall aid in the performance of the duties of the office under the auditor's direction …

It shall be the duty of each city auditor: 1. Meetings. To attend all meetings of the governing body and keep a complete record of its proceedings. The official proceedings are to be signed by the auditor when they are prepared and by the executive officer upon board approval at …

The city auditor of each city shall prepare and submit to the governing body of the city reports as follows: 1. Monthly financial statement. A monthly financial statement shall be prepared showing the revenues, expenditures, transfers, and fund balances. 2. Annual financial state…

Within sixty days after the close of each fiscal year, the auditor of each city shall make and cause to be published in the official city newspaper a financial statement of the city showing the receipts and disbursements on account of each fund during the last preceding year.

All claims and demands against a city, whether founded on contract or otherwise, and to be paid from any fund, including a municipal utilities fund, shall be filed with the city auditor. The city auditor shall examine each claim filed and determine whether or not it is properly i…

A city auditor may administer oaths and affirmations to witness and take testimony in connection with any of the duties imposed upon the city auditor by the laws of this state.

The city auditor in a city operating under the commission system of government shall be ex officio secretary of the board of public works and shall perform the duties of a member of such board.

Copies of any and all books, papers, documents, or instruments duly filed and kept in the office of a city auditor and transcripts from the records of the proceedings of the governing body of a city certified by the city auditor shall be evidence in all courts and places in like …

All funds in the city treasury, except school funds, funds created and set apart for the payment of interest and principal of the debt of the city, and funds collected on special assessments, shall be under the control of the governing body of the city and shall be drawn out when…

The city auditor shall pay out funds appropriated for special purposes only for the purposes for which they were appropriated even though the governing body directs to the contrary.

The governing body, at a regular meeting, may cancel and destroy all warrants drawn on any fund of the city which have remained on file for a period of one year or more next preceding the regular meeting at which the cancellation takes place. The governing body may cancel and des…