Legal Aspects of Code Administration Practice Test 2026 - Free Code Administration Exam Questions and Study Guide

A charter is the legal instrument that creates a municipality and sets up its government structure and powers. When a city or town adopts a charter, it establishes the municipal government—defining who runs it (mayor, council, or a manager), how elections are conducted, and what authorities the municipality has over local matters like zoning, policing, and taxation. That makes the form created by a charter a municipal government.

County government, on the other hand, is typically formed under state statutes or a state constitution, not by a city charter. Expressed powers refer to specific enumerated authorities granted to a government body (such as Congress or a state) and are not about creating a form of government. Home rule is a concept describing broad self-governance under a charter, but the actionable form produced by the charter itself is the municipal government.