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Introduction to municipal ordinances and codes

Municipal ordinances and codes are laws issued by a local government such as a city, town, village, county, parish, etc. Ordinances may cover things like:

  • noise
  • snow removal
  • pet restrictions
  • rezoning of property
  • annexation of property
  • new building construction codes
  • business licenses
  • public health and safety

How to find municipal ordinances & codes

Nexis Uni

  1. In the Nexis Uni database, click Menu at the top of the page and select All Sources in the drop-down. 
  2. Use the Narrow By section on the side of the results page to narrow the search.
  3. Under Category click More to see more options. Select Statutes & Legislation.
  4. Once the search updates, you will find different options listed under Category. Click on More again, and select Municipal Codes.
  5. From this page, you can conduct your searches in several ways: 
    • To search all states simultaneously, click the Add All These as Search Filters button above the results list.
    • You can choose a specific state in the Jurisdiction box. You can also add additional search terms in the search box at the top of the Narrow By section.
  6. To browse an individual code source, click on the three dots to the right of the name and select Get documents.
  7. To search within specific multiple code sources, click the three dots and select Add to Search.

Use the Search within results box in the Narrow By column on the side of the results to continue to narrow your search by using keywords.

Local Government & Public Websites

You can search for municipal codes directly on individual city or county websites. Use a search engine like Google or Duck Duck Go to search for the city or county website, and then look for ordinances.

You can also search to see if your county or municipality ordinances are available on the following public websites: