Local Government Law

Catalog description

This course will explore how local governments (cities, counties, towns, special districts and authorities) operate in practical detail. It will focus on the powers of local government as established by Constitutional, Federal, State and local law. The course will look at issues faced by these governments and explore how they govern in light of legal, practical and political considerations. The course will include: a) a review of the balance of legal powers between Federal, State and local governments; b) The rules by which local governments operate including the forms, structures and financing of local governments, and c) the practical application of the laws to numerous functions of local governments including policing, health, discrimination and the environment.