Local Government Law provides a unique resource with concise, easy-to-understand explanations of important legal issues faced by local public officials, community boards, and city councils. From the moment officials take office, they face decisions related to basic principles found in state and federal law. The same is true for those in the private sector aiming to work successfully with local governments. This practical guidebook will empower public and private representatives with a functional grasp of legal principles, with chapters explaining what a local government is, the requirement to follow due process, local land use controls, the basics of the Freedom of Information Act, and many other important subjects that regularly arise. As a practical guidebook on local government law, this book provides a basic and empowering understanding for officials and private actors in the local government arena.

This study is designed to help local government practitioners in Pacific island countries review and strengthen their existing legislative and regulatory frameworks. It identifies best practice, examines case studies of Fiji, Solomon Islands and Samoa, and presents ten key principles for effective legislation.

Receive complimentary lifetime digital access to the eBook with new print purchase. The hottest issue in state and local government today is preemption - the conflict between states and cities over authority in a wide range of sharply-contested areas, including gun control, minimum wages and family leave, anti-discrimination law, environmental protection, and sanctuary policies. This pathbreaking reader comes straight from the front-lines of that conflict. It presents and analyzes in concise form the most important preemption statutes and cases, along with commentary from the leading scholars in the field. Virtually all the material involves disputes that have emerged and decisions handed down in just the last two to three years. Designed for use in courses dealing with states and local governments as a supplement to existing casebooks or on its own, the reader will be a unique and invaluable resource for students, teachers, scholars, and anyone involved in preemption and state-local relations more broadly today.

This book reviews and explains the principal public records statutes applicable to records held by North Carolina local governments and examines the public's right of access to those records. It expands the coverage of the first edition and its cumulative supplement and also includes developments in the law since 2004. Although the book focuses on records held by local governments, state government officials also will find it useful.