40-01 General Provisions
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<![CDATA[TITLE 40MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTCHAPTER 40-01GENERAL PROVISIONS40-01-01.Definitions.In this title, unless the context or subject matter otherwiserequires:1."City" includes cities incorporated under the city council form and city commission<br>system of government, unless the contrary shall appear.2."Executive officer" means the mayor in council cities or the president of the board of<br>city commissioners in commission cities.3."Governing body" means the city council or the board of city commissioners, as the<br>case may be, of a municipality concerned or affected.4."Municipal corporation" or "municipality" includes all cities organized under the laws<br>of this state, but shall not include any other political subdivision.5."Warrant" means an order drawn by the proper official of the city on its treasury, the<br>warrant or order to be so drawn that when signed by the auditor in an appropriate<br>place it becomes a check on the depository of such city, and no warrant upon the<br>treasury shall be delivered or mailed to the payee or the payee's agent or<br>representative until such warrant has been signed by the auditor and entered on the<br>auditor's books as a check drawn on a bank depository.40-01-02. Municipalities are bodies corporate. Municipalities shall be bodies politicand corporate under the name and style of "city of __________" and under such name may sue<br>and be sued, contract and be contracted with, acquire and hold real and personal property for<br>corporate purposes, and have an official seal which may be changed at pleasure.40-01-03. Judicial notice of existence and change of organization to be taken bycourts. Courts shall take judicial notice of the existence of a municipality by the name and style<br>designated at the time of its incorporation, and of the change of the form of the organization of<br>any municipality from its original form to any other type of organization provided by this title.40-01-04. Vested rights. All rights and property of every kind and description vested inany municipal corporation previous to any change in its form of organization shall be vested in<br>the same municipal corporation upon its being incorporated under a different type of organization<br>as provided by this title. No rights or liabilities in favor of or against such corporation existing at<br>the time of a change in the form of its organization, and no action or prosecution of any kind shall<br>be affected by such change, but the same shall stand and progress as if no change had been<br>made.When by reason of a change in the form of organization, there is made available adifferent remedy which is applicable to any right existing before such change became effective,<br>such remedy shall be additional to the remedies theretofore provided.40-01-05. Ordinances and resolutions remain in force - Legal identity not changed.A change in the form of organization of a municipality shall not change its legal identity as a<br>municipal corporation. All ordinances and resolutions in force therein at the date of such change<br>shall continue in full force and effect until repealed or amended.40-01-06. Bonds, contracts, and conveyances - How signed and countersigned. Allbonds, contracts, and conveyances of a municipality, except as otherwise provided, shall be<br>signed by the executive officer and countersigned by the auditor or clerk, as the case may be.Page No. 140-01-07. Property exempt from taxation and sale on execution. Lands, houses,moneys, claims receivable, and property and assets of every kind and description belonging to a<br>municipality shall be exempt from taxation and from sale on execution.40-01-08. Removal of building when taxes and special assessments or share ofbonded indebtedness are due - Lien - Penalty. No person may remove a building from any lot<br>or tract of land in any municipality, unless it is assessed as personalty or exempt from taxation,<br>until after the taxes and special assessments then due have been paid, nor until the owner shall<br>have paid into the sinking fund for the retirement of any bonded indebtedness of the municipality<br>an amount equal to the just share of the tax which would then be required against the property in<br>the municipality to pay the principal outstanding, less amount in sinking funds, of the bonded<br>indebtedness of the municipality. The phrase "taxes and special assessments then due" means<br>all taxes and special assessments that have been levied plus a pro rata estimated tax for the<br>current assessment year. For property classified as residential, "special assessments then due"<br>means the sum of the installments of special assessments certified to the county auditor for<br>extension on the tax list plus the pro rata installment of the special assessment to be certified in<br>the current assessment year. If the building is removed without the payment of the taxes and<br>special assessments and pro rata share of bonded indebtedness, the taxes, special<br>assessments, and pro rata share of bonded indebtedness shall be a lien on the building<br>notwithstanding its removal as well as upon the lot, lots, tract, or tracts of land from which the<br>building was removed. This section does not apply where a building is removed to permit the<br>erection or installation of improvements equal or greater in value than the building removed. Any<br>person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.40-01-09. Official newspaper of municipality. The official newspaper as chosen bythe electors of the county shall be the official newspaper of the municipality in which it is<br>published, and such official notices and legal publications as the municipality is required to<br>publish by law shall be published therein. In municipalities where the official newspaper is not<br>published, the governing body of the municipality, annually by resolution at its first meeting in<br>May, or as soon thereafter as practicable, shall designate a newspaper published in the<br>municipality, or if there is not one published, then it shall designate a newspaper which is<br>circulated in the municipality, as the official newspaper of the municipality, including park districts<br>therein, for the publication of notices and legal publications, including legal notices and official<br>statements of the school districts embracing or encompassed by the municipality.40-01-09.1.Publication of city government proceedings - Electorate to decide.Beginning with the 1996 biennial municipal elections, and every four years thereafter, all cities in<br>North Dakota, regardless of their form of government, must put on the ballot the question of<br>whether the minutes of its governing body shall be published in its official newspaper. If voters<br>approve publication, the governing body shall, within seven days after each of its meetings, give<br>its official newspaper, for publication, the complete minutes, or a complete summary showing the<br>substantive actions taken at the meeting.Roll call votes must be published, but may be indicated as "unanimous" whenappropriate. A list of the individual checks written by the city and approved by the governing<br>body, showing the payee and the amount of each check, must be published.However,employee salary checks need not be published if the governing body elects to publish an annual<br>salary schedule for each employee. When applicable, these minutes may be labeled as being<br>published subject to the governing body's review and revision. The minutes shall continue to be<br>published until disapproved at a succeeding quadrennial election.40-01-10. Certificate of publication filed in auditor's office - Conclusive evidence -When bill for publication audited. After any ordinance, notice, resolution, or other proceeding<br>has been published, a copy of the publication, together with the affidavit of publication stating the<br>length of time it has been published, shall be filed with the city auditor. Such affidavit shall be<br>conclusive evidence of the publication. The bill for the publication shall not be audited until such<br>affidavit is filed.Page No. 240-01-11. Publication by a city or park district in which no official newspaper ispublished.Whenever any ordinance, notice, or other instrument is required by law to bepublished in a city or park district in which no official newspaper is published, such publication<br>may be made or such notice given by publication of such ordinance, notice, or other instrument<br>in the official newspaper designated pursuant to section 40-01-09.In a county in which nonewspaper is published, any notice required by law to be published may be published in a<br>newspaper printed in an adjoining county and having a general circulation in said county.40-01-12. Claims and accounts against municipalities audited. No account or claimagainst a municipality to be paid from any fund, including a municipal utilities fund, shall be<br>allowed by the governing body thereof until a full itemized statement in writing has been filed with<br>the governing body or unless otherwise authorized by the governing body pursuant to contract or<br>other action.The governing body, in its discretion, may require the filing of any additionalinformation which it may deem necessary to the proper understanding and audit of any claim or<br>account and it may require the filing of a sworn statement in such form as it may prescribe.<br>Every account or claim which is allowed by the governing body shall be shown in the minutes of<br>the proceedings of the governing body except that wages and salaries of persons employed by<br>the city may be consolidated and allowed in one order as provided by subsection 15 of section<br>40-16-03 and reference made in the proceedings of the governing body to the payroll record<br>certified to the city auditor.40-01-13. Payment of accounts by municipality. No account or claim shall be paid bya municipality unless the same has been audited and allowed by the governing body thereof.<br>Approval by the governing body shall be recorded in the record of its proceedings and this shall<br>be sufficient to indicate approval without requiring a majority of the members of the governing<br>body to sign or initial the voucher or order for payment. No moneys shall be drawn from the<br>treasury of a municipality except upon a warrant from the auditor thereof signed by the executive<br>officer of the municipality and attested by its auditor or clerk.40-01-14. Office of municipality located in more than one county - Form of officialproceeding - Seal. The officers of a municipality which consists of territory located in more than<br>one county may maintain an office for the performance of their duties in any portion of the<br>municipality. All official proceedings shall be headed with the name of the municipality and of<br>each county of which a portion is embraced within such corporate limits and the name of the<br>state. The official seal which may be used by such municipality shall contain all of such names.40-01-15. Assessors where municipality is in more than one county - Powers andduties of assessors. In any municipality which contains territory located in more than one<br>county, an assessor shall be elected or appointed in accordance with the law applicable to such<br>form of municipality for that portion of the municipality situated in each county. Such assessor<br>must be a resident of the county in which the assessor is to act and shall have the same powers<br>and duties as an assessor in a municipality situated within the limits of one county.40-01-16. Duty of auditor relating to assessments in municipality located in morethan one county. The auditor of a municipality embracing territory in more than one county<br>shall transmit the appropriate assessment books, with a certified copy of the minutes showing the<br>proceedings of the board of equalization, to the county auditor of each county in which the<br>municipality is situated. The auditor shall apportion correctly the amount of any tax levy to be<br>certified to each county in accordance with the valuations as determined finally by the<br>equalization board.40-01-17. County treasurers' duties relating to municipality located in more thanone county. If a municipality contains territory located in more than one county, the county<br>treasurer of each county in which such municipality is located shall perform the same duties in<br>relation to all property returned as assessed by the municipality in the county of which the<br>treasurer is an officer as the treasurer performs with relation to property situated in a municipality<br>wholly within such county.Page No. 340-01-18. Other provisions applicable to municipalities situated in more than onecounty. The holding of elections, organization of the board of elections, the election and term of<br>office of the original officers, and the powers and duties of officers of a city embracing territory in<br>more than one county shall be governed by the provisions of this title relating to cities under the<br>council form of government, or to cities under the commission system of government, as the<br>case may be.40-01-19. Provisions of title shall apply to all cities. All cities in North Dakota shall begoverned by the provisions of this title.40-01-20. Daylight saving time prohibited. No city or other political subdivision withinthe state shall adopt daylight saving time or any other seasonal standard of time which varies<br>from the time in effect in such city or political subdivision during the greater portion of the year.<br>All ordinances, resolutions, or other enactments, whether enacted prior to or subsequent to the<br>effective date of this section, are hereby nullified.40-01-21.Removal of city advisory or policy decisionmaking members.Theexecutive officer of a city and a sixty percent majority of the members-elect of a city's governing<br>body at a regular meeting of such body may remove any member of an appointive agency,<br>board, or commission which has spending, borrowing, or eminent domain powers and acts in an<br>advisory capacity or assists in policy decisionmaking.40-01-22. Antitrust immunity of cities and city governing bodies. All immunity of thestate from the provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act [Act July 2, 1890, c.647; 26 Stat. 209; 15<br>U.S.C. 1 et seq.] is hereby extended to any city or city governing body acting within the scope of<br>the grants of authority contained in sections 40-05-01, 40-05-02, and 40-05.1-06. When acting<br>within the scope of the grants of authority contained in sections 40-05-01, 40-05-02, and<br>40-05.1-06, a city or city governing body shall be presumed to be acting in furtherance of state<br>policy.40-01-23.Authorization to organize and participate in an organization of citygovernments.1.Cities incorporated under the statutes of North Dakota are hereby authorized upon<br>motion of the city governing body to organize and participate in an organization of<br>city governments.2.The organization or organizations authorized hereunder must be organized pursuant<br>to chapter 10-33.Page No. 4Document Outlinechapter 40-01 general provisions]]>