General-law municipality
In the systems of local government in some U.S. states, a general-law municipality, general-law city, code city, or statutory city is a municipality whose government structure and powers are defined by the general law of its state. This is in contrast to a charter city or home-rule city, whose government structure and powers are defined by a municipal charter.
States may allow only general-law municipalities, only charter municipalities, or both. In states having both, general-law municipalities generally have less autonomy than charter municipalities do. Six states do not allow municipal charters, meaning that every municipality is a general-law municipality. Other states may allow or require charters for all municipalities or may allow charters only for municipalities meeting certain criteria, requiring other municipalities to be general-law municipalities.