Title 5, Municipal Corporations

The manager shall be the chief executive officer and head of the administrative branch of the municipal government. He shall be responsible to the municipal council for the proper administration of all affairs of the municipality and to that end, subject to the provisions of this…

Municipal primary, general and special elections shall be conducted pursuant to Title 7, mutatis mutandi, except as otherwise provided for specifically in Chapters 1 through 17.

The municipal election commission shall be vested with the functions, powers and duties of Municipal Supervisors of Registration if no such supervisors have been appointed pursuant to SECTION 7-5-640, and shall also have the functions, powers and duties of commissioners of electi…

Candidates for municipal offices in any partisan or nonpartisan general election nominated by petition shall file the necessary petition with the municipal election commission seventy-five days before the general election concerned. The commission shall examine the petition and d…

Immediately upon the closing of the polls at any municipal election, the managers shall count publicly the votes cast and make a statement of the whole number of votes cast in such election together with the number of votes cast for each candidate for mayor and councilman and tra…

If any municipal election results in a tie, the municipal election commission or the municipal party committee shall conduct a runoff election to break the tie two weeks following that election. In the tie-breaking runoff, the laws of this State apply, mutatis mutandi. If the dat…

Within forty-eight hours after the closing of the polls, any candidate may contest the result of the election as reported by the managers by filing a written notice of such contest together with a concise statement of the grounds therefor with the Municipal Election Commission. W…

Within ten days after notice of the decision of the municipal election commission, any party aggrieved thereby may appeal from such decision to the court of common pleas. Notice of appeal shall be served on the opposing parties or their attorneys and filed in the office of the cl…

(A) Municipalities are authorized to transfer authority for conducting municipal elections to the county elections commission. County elections commissions are authorized to conduct municipal elections. (B) As a condition of the transfer of authority to conduct elections pursuant…

The mayor and councilmen, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take the oath prescribed by the Constitution and also the following oath, to wit: "As mayor (councilman) of the municipality of __________ I will equally, fairly, and impartially, to the …

Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, a municipal council is authorized by ordinance to provide that the term of office of any commissioner of public works of any municipality of this State which now expires at a time other than the time of the general election for municip…

Any and all actions taken by a commissioner of public works whose term of office expired prior to the adoption of the ordinance provided for by SECTION 5-15-160 are ratified, validated and confirmed.

Each municipality in this State shall provide by ordinance for the election of its council. Councils shall select any one of the following methods of election of council: (1) Members of the council elected from the municipality at large. (2) One member elected from each ward of t…

If by action of a majority of council, or if fifteen percent of the registered municipal electors present to the municipal election commission a duly executed petition on which none of the signatures is more than six months old, in which an election is sought to change the number…

The mayor and councilmen of each municipality shall be elected for terms of two or four years. Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, four-year terms shall be set so that not more than one-half of the council and mayor shall be elected in the same general election; provided, tha…

Each municipal governing body may by ordinance establish municipal ward lines and the time for general and special elections within the municipality. Public notice of the elections shall be given at least sixty days prior to such elections.

Each municipality in this State shall adopt by ordinance one of the following alternative methods of nominating candidates for and determining the results of its nonpartisan elections: (1) The nonpartisan plurality method prescribed in SECTION 5-15-61; (2) The nonpartisan electio…

In conducting nonpartisan elections and using the plurality method, election results shall be determined in accordance with the following rules: (1) When more than one person is seeking election to a single office, the candidate who receives the highest number of votes shall be d…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, results in nonpartisan municipal elections in municipalities using the election and runoff election method shall be determined by a majority of the votes cast. A majority within the meaning of this section shall be determined as f…

(a) In municipalities whose elections are nonpartisan and which use the nonpartisan primary election and general election method, there shall be a primary election to reduce the field of candidates to two candidates for each position to be filled, if when the filing period closes…

Each municipal governing body shall determine by ordinance the time for filing nominating petitions, holding primary elections or conventions, the time for entry of candidates for nominations in municipal party primary elections or conventions, the time for closing of entries, an…

The results of any political party primary shall be declared by the party conducting the election. Protests and contests shall be filed in writing with the municipal party chairman within two days after the day of the declaration of the results of the election and the municipal p…

(A) All municipal elections held under the provisions of this chapter must be conducted by a municipal election commission composed of three electors who must be residents of the municipality and who must be appointed by the municipal governing body. The terms of the members are …

The electors of a municipality may propose any ordinance, except an ordinance appropriating money or authorizing the levy of taxes. Any initiated ordinance may be submitted to the council by a petition signed by qualified electors of the municipality equal in number to at least f…

Within sixty days after the enactment by the council of any ordinance authorizing the issuance of bonds, notes or other evidence of debt the repayment of which requires a pledge of the full faith and credit of the municipality, a petition signed by the qualified electors of the m…

If the council shall fail to pass an ordinance proposed by initiative petition or shall pass it in a form substantially different from that set forth in the petition therefor or if the council fail to repeal an ordinance for which a petition has been presented, the adoption or re…

The city or town council of any city or town adopting the commission form of government, except a municipality of over two thousand and less than four thousand inhabitants, shall immediately after the organization of the new city council first elected after adoption of such form …

Any municipality in this State which does not operate under the commission form of government and which had a population of (a) not more than sixty-five thousand and not less than ten thousand, (b) not more than seven thousand and not less than six thousand five hundred or (c) no…

The members of any such commission shall be of good moral character and not less than thirty years of age and shall possess the qualifications and requirements in force with respect to other officers of the city and shall take a similar oath of office. They shall be and remain re…

The commissioners shall be paid such compensation for their services as may be fixed by the city council, and the chairman and secretary of the commission may be paid additional compensation in the discretion of council for their services.

On the creation of such commission and each year thereafter when the expiring term has been filled, the commissioners shall elect from their number a chairman. The city clerk of such city or his assistant shall serve as secretary for the commission. The chairman shall enforce the…

The commission shall hold meetings at least once during each month at a fixed and stated time, as well as such special or extra meetings as may be called by the chairman or a majority of the commission.

The mayor, the city council or any committee from the city council may sit in at any regular commission meeting and join in the discussion, but shall not be permitted to vote on matters herein delegated to the commission.

Such civil service commission, by and with the advice of the chief of each department, shall have disciplinary control and supervision over the employees of the fire department and the police department of such city and may employ, promote and discharge employees thereof, except …

All applicants for position in the fire or police departments shall be subjected to an examination by the commission which shall be competitive and free to all resident persons possessing the right of suffrage and meeting the requirements prescribed by the commission, subject to …

Notice of the time and place of the holding of every examination shall be given by the commission by posting such notice in a conspicuous place at the city hall in such municipality for at least two weeks preceding such examination and by publication in a newspaper published in t…

The civil service commissioners shall, twice a year or oftener if they deem it necessary, under such rules and regulations as they may prescribe, hold examinations for the purpose of determining the qualifications of applicants for positions on the police force, in the fire depar…

The commission shall prepare and keep a register of persons successfully passing such examination, and such register shall determine the order of appointments under the rules and regulations established by the commission, except that after the expiration of one year from the date…

A six months' period shall elapse from the date of employment of new and additional officers and men under the terms and conditions of the ordinance establishing the commission during which six months' probation period the commission may discharge such officers or employees witho…

A practical and reasonably accurate service record of each and every employee shall be kept in conformity with rules to be established by the commission, and such records shall be considered by the commission in making promotions.

All promotions in the fire or police department of any such municipality shall be by the chief of each respective department, by and with the approval of the commission, except for the office of chief of these departments, which offices shall be filled by the commission, subject …

No officer or employee of the fire or police department, including the chiefs thereof, shall be dismissed, removed, or discharged except for cause. But the commission may suspend any officer or employee pending an investigation of charges against him not to exceed fifteen days at…

An employee of either department may be suspended for a period not exceeding five days by his chief for the commission of any of the offenses referred to in SECTION 5-19-270, but such suspension shall be reported to the commission within twenty-four hours, and it may remove such …

A complaint against any officer or employee of either department may be orally or in writing lodged with the commission or any member thereof. The commission or any member may investigate the charge, and if a prima facie case is found to exist, the officer or employee may be brou…

In the event any officer or employee be found guilty of (a) violating any ordinance of his city or law of the State or any rule or order of the commission or city council pertaining to his work or conduct or the conduct of the department of which he is an officer or employee, (b)…

Every such commission shall make a full semiannual report to the city council of its actions for the preceding six months, including the rules and regulations promulgated and in force, and it may include in such report any recommendations affecting the police and fire departments…