Home rule in the United States

The following chart indicates which of the 50 U.S. states are home rule states and which states obey the legal principle of Dillon's Rule for determining local government authority. A state in this chart with "Limited" home rule may grant home rule to particular cities and municipalities individually but has no constitutional provision guaranteeing home rule. A state that is both a home rule state and a Dillon's Rule state applies Dillon's Rule to matters or governmental units not accounted for in the constitutional provision or statute that grants home rule. Washington, D.C. is a federal city with a limited form of home rule granted by the federal government; see District of Columbia home rule for details. ==Home rule charter cities==

In the United States, a home rule city, charter city, or home rule charter city is a city in which the governing system is defined by its own municipal charter document rather than solely by state statute (general law). State law may require general-law cities to have a five-member city council, for example, as in California, but a city organized under a charter may choose a different system, including the "strong mayor" or "city manager" forms of government. These cities may be administered predominantly by residents or through a third-party management structure, because a charter gives a city the flexibility to choose novel types of government structure. Depending on the state, all cities, no cities, or some cities may be charter cities. ==See also==