LibGuides: Free Online Legal Research: Local Government Law

California Resources

The California Municipal Law Handbook
Currently published by CEB (formerly published by the League of California Cities). A good place to start if you are new to municipal law. Provides references to other sources which may cover a particular topic in detail.
California State Association of Counties
Represents county governments before the California legislature, administrative agencies and the federal government. Provides links to California counties, county map, the cities within each county and demographic data.
League of California Cities
An advocacy group of California city officials. Has a "bill search" feature (see the Member Toolbox, or under the "Policy & Advocacy" link at the top.) See also the "Resources" link on the top of the page for more city information ("Learn About Cities").
Los Angeles City Clerk Connect
From this page one may access the Council File Management System and do an Ordinance Search.
City of Los Angeles Organizational Chart
A PDF copy of the organization of the city of Los Angeles.
California State Controller's database of California local government salaries and compensation
The State Controller's Government Compensation in California website provides information on employee pay and benefits for approximately 2 million positions at more than 5,000 public employers. Public employers annually report employee compensation to the State Controller's Office. View and search employee job titles, build charts and graphics, and download custom reports and raw data.
IGS' California Local Government Documents
The Library of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley includes "an extensive collection of budgets and financial reports, planning documents, and ordinance codes from cities and counties across California."

Other Resources

National Association of Counties (NACo) Find A County
NACo collects information on counties, including county seats and cities within a county. Click on the state on the hyperlinked map, use the pull-down menu, or search for a particular county in the search box at the bottom of the screen.
National Association of Counties (NACo) City-County Search
Find a county a city is located in by searching by name of city, by zip code, by selecting a state to view all the cities within that state, or by selecting a state and county to view all the cities within that state and county.
National League of Cities' (NLC) Cities 101
A public resource developed by the NLC to introduce and explain municipal government in the United States.

Municipal Codes Online

None of these sources is comprehensive. If you are looking for a particular city's municipal code, go to that city's official Web site and look for a link or use a search engine.

If you would like to search several municipal codes at one time, you may use American Legal Publishing's site, subscribe to Municode, or use LexisNexis Academic's Municipal Codes file, which includes approximately 300 city and county codes (see links below).

UC Berkeley's IGS California Local Codes & Charters
UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies Library maintains a large collection of local ordinance codes and charters issued by California cities and counties. If you need to find a California municode, check this site first.
American Legal Publishing
Offers several search options: can search all codes in its library (covers 32 states); search all codes within a selected state; or select a city and search/browse its code.
Municode
Go to the "Code Library" link to access the municipal codes from 50 states. Multiple code searching is available by subscription ($495 annual fee).
Code Publishing
Includes a list of online codes for 24 states. Especially useful for codes in Oregon and Washington state.
Sterling Codifiers
Codes from 20 states; browse by selecting a state and choosing a municipality.
General Code's E-Codes
Codes from 24 states and Canada; browse by selecting a state and choosing a municipality.
Conway Greene Co.
Includes mostly cities in Ohio. Click on "Search All Codes" at the top of the list of cities to search all ordinances. Select "Advanced Search" to search for exact phrases and words appearing near each other.
Coded Systems
(Merging with General Code) Includes a list of online codes for cities and counties in 10 states. Especially useful for codes in New Jersey.
Quality Code Publishing
Includes a list of online codes for cities and counties in 6 states. The majority of the codes listed are for cities in California.
Arizona City Codes
List provided by the Judicial Branch of Arizona Maricopa County Law Library.
Illinois Municipal League's Complete List of Municipal Codes
Complete list of all online municipal codes for Illinois municipalities.
Iowa Municipal and County Law
Provided by the Drake University School of Law Library.
Garbrecht Law Library's Maine Town & City Ordinances
List of ordinances provided by the University of Maine, School of Law Library.
Maryland Muncipal Codes
Provided by the Maryland State Law Library. Not all municipalities offer online access. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the link to "County Codes available online."
Michigan Ordinances & Code
Provided by the Michigan State University College of Law Library.
Minnesota County and Municipal Ordinances
Provided by the Minnesota State law Library.
Nevada County and City Codes Online
Provided by the Nevada State Legislature.
Franklin Legal Publishing's Codes Online
Extensive collection of Texas municipal codes. Advanced searching available.
Utah City & County Codes Online
Provided by the BYU Howard W. Hunter Law Library. Includes Utah city codes in three tabs and county codes online in a separate tab.
Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington
Includes links to city and county codes for cities and counties in Washington. Also allows for multiple code searching.
Wisconsin Ordinances & Codes
Alphabetical list provided by the Wisconsin State Law Library.