Local Ordinances

Are you dealing with a legal issue related to housing, education, transportation, or the environment? Then don’t forget about local ordinances when you are doing your research. Cities and towns have the authority to make local laws in many areas, including planning and zoning, building and construction standards, noise and nuisance regulation, business licenses, and public health and safety. If you deal with these kinds of issues on a regular basis, or if you regularly represent small business owners or landlords, you will definitely be dealing with local ordinances, or municipal codes, at some point.

There are a number of online sources that provide selected municipal codes from cities and towns across the country. Sources that provide codes from Connecticut municipalities include Municipal Code Corporation, General Code Publishers, and LexisNexis Municipal Codes Web Library. Some Connecticut cities and towns provide access to their local ordinances on their websites, as well as in their respective city and town clerk’s offices. You may also be able to find a copy of a city or town’s municipal code at its public library. The law library also has the municipal codes for the city of Hartford and the town of West Hartford in print.

J. Fusaris