Ordinance Codification

The Basic Steps of Codification

1. Ordinance Review

Ordinances and resolutions are reviewed to determine which provisions are of a general and permanent nature, and to determine if they have been repealed or superseded by more recent legislation. Once identified, these materials are then included in the code.

2. Organization

Organizing your materials into a logical structure is critical to ensure that the code is easy to use. Chapters and code sections are numbered to allow for future growth.

Each code typically includes:

Table of contents, Charter, if applicable

Body of the code divided into the following titles:

Administration
Public Works
Traffic Code (including traffic and parking schedules)
General Regulations
Business Regulations
General/Criminal Offenses
Land Usage

Table of Special Ordinances (summary of ordinances that may be of interest to a community) such as:

Annexations
Easements
Franchises
Sale and Purchase of Real Property
Street and Alley Vacations
Zoning Map Changes

Parallel References Table - a collection of references to any prior code sections, state law cited in the code, and local ordinances and resolutions

Index

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3. Editorial and Legal Review

Experienced editorial staff provide a review of the code, noting any errors and outdated material for municipal or county staff to address during the review phase. Our attorneys conduct a separate review of the code to find potential inconsistencies in the ordinances and to ensure that provisions conform with state statutes and major federal laws.

4. Draft, Review, and Final Production

After the review of your code is complete, a draft is sent to you to review, to accept or reject suggested changes, and to make any other changes to the code that are needed.

5. Published Code

Upon receiving all feedback, changes, and new legislation, we incorporate everything and prepare the code for final publication. Your code is printed in book format using a loose-leaf page system. This provides an easy way to replace code pages in the future when changes are needed.

The code is also converted into an easily searchable format and published online for residents to view.