§ 40-05.1-05.1 — Multicity home rule

North Dakota § 40-05.1-05.1

• Jurisdiction: North Dakota
• Title 40: Municipal Government
• Ch. 40-05.1: Home Rule in Cities

Text

1. Two or more cities may draft and submit for adoption a multicity home rule charter to
the electors of each city pursuant to this section. The other provisions of this chapter
apply to a multicity home rule charter, except as otherwise provided by this section.
2. The process for drafting and submitting a multicity home rule charter may be initiated
by:
a. Separate motions by the governing bodies of the participating cities;
b. The execution of a joint powers agreement between participating cities; or
c. A petition filed with each governing body of two or more cities and signed by ten
percent or more of the total number of qualified electors of each city voting for
governor at the most recent gubernatorial election.
3. Within sixty days after proceedings are initiated for a multicity home rule charter, the
boards of governing bodies shall enter into a joint powers agreement specifying the
procedure for framing the charter, which may include the establishment of a single
cooperative charter commission with membership representing each city. As an
alternative, the governing bodies in each affected city may establish a separate charter
commission pursuant to section 40-05.1-03 to frame the charter in cooperative study
with the charter commission of any other affected city. The charter commissions must
submit a single joint report and proposed charter.
4. The charter commission, during its deliberation, may hold public hearings and
community forums and use other suitable means to disseminate information, receive
suggestions and comments, and encourage public discussion on the subject of the
proposed multicity home rule charter, and may report periodically to the affected
governing bodies on their progress. In preparing the charter, the charter commission
may:
a. Include any of the available powers enumerated in section 40-05.1-06;
b. Provide for adjustment of existing bonded indebtedness and other obligations in a
manner which will provide for a fair and equitable burden of taxation for debt
service;
c. Provide for the transfer or other disposition of property and other rights, claims,
assets, and franchises of the cities;
d. Provide for the reorganization, abolition, or adjustment of boundaries of any
existing boards, commissions, agencies, and special districts of the city
governments, including city park districts;
e. Include provisions for transition in implementing the charter, including elements
that consider the reasonable expectations of current officeholders or personnel
such as delayed effective dates for implementation at the end of a current term or
a future term, upon the occurrence of a vacancy, or on a date certain;
f. Include provision for the limited application or temporary implementation of the
charter, including provisions that permit implementation on an experimental or
pilot basis such as the expiration of the charter on a date certain in the future,

required reapproval of the charter by the electors at a future date, or a phased-in
implementation of various aspects of the charter; and
g. Include other provisions that the charter commission elects to include and which
are consistent with state law.
5. The proposed charter or accurate summary of the charter must be published in the
official newspaper of each affected city, at the expense of each city, at least once
during two different weeks within the thirty-day period immediately preceding the date
of election. However, a city with a population of one thousand or less may, instead of
publishing the charter in a newspaper, distribute copies of the charter door-to-door and
have them posted and available at prominent locations in the city.
6. If a majority of the qualified electors voting in each city on the charter vote in favor of
the multicity home rule charter, it is ratified and becomes the organic law of the cities
on the first day of January following the election or other effective date specified in the
charter.
7. The amendment or repeal of a multicity home rule charter may proceed pursuant to
the amendment and repeal provisions of section 40-05.1-07 on a multicity basis. A
majority vote of the qualified electors voting in each city in the election is required to
adopt any amendment of a multicity charter. A majority vote of the qualified electors of
only one or more participating cities is required to repeal a multicity charter.