Handbook·Local government

City charters, home rule vs. Dillon's Rule

Explainer·Verified 2026-07-10

The answer

Dillon's Rule says a city or county has only the powers a state legislature explicitly gives it, plus whatever is clearly implied. Anything not on that list requires going back to the state capitol and asking. It comes from two 1868 opinions by Iowa Supreme Court Judge John F. Dillon, later upheld twice by the U.S. Supreme Court, in 1907 and again in 1923.¹ Home rule is the opposite default: a state constitution or statute hands a city or county broad authority to govern itself without asking permission for each new power. The folk-model-breaking fact is that home rule does not mean autonomy. A state legislature can still preempt, meaning pass a law that overrides or blocks a local ordinance, even in home-rule states and even against home-rule cities. Most states are not purely one or the other. A state can give home rule to its cities while keeping counties under Dillon's Rule, or grant it to large cities but not small ones.

How it actually works

Texas grants home rule to its larger cities, so Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, and Dallas all operate as home-rule municipalities. That did not stop the Texas Legislature from passing House Bill 2127 in 2023, nicknamed the "Death Star bill," which barred cities and counties from enacting local ordinances across broad fields including labor, agriculture, business, and property.² Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso sued. A Travis County judge ruled the law unconstitutional in August 2023, days before it was set to take effect. The state appealed, and the Third Court of Appeals reversed that ruling, letting the law stand, a reversal the Texas Tribune reported on July 18, 2025. In October 2025, three Dallas residents filed a new suit in Denton County District Court against their own city, arguing 83 of Dallas's local ordinances violate HB 2127. The litigation was still unresolved as of mid-2026, and it shows that a home-rule charter is not a shield against a determined state legislature.

Who holds the power

The state legislature sets the baseline and can preempt local ordinances at any time, whether the state follows Dillon's Rule or home rule. The state constitution or enabling statutes define how much home-rule authority exists and for whom, cities, counties, or both, often only above a population threshold. Within whatever room the state leaves, a home-rule city's own charter defines its structure, powers, and procedures, subject to amendment by its own voters.

Roughly 31 states apply Dillon's Rule to most municipalities, about 10 grant broad home rule, and several more apply Dillon's Rule only to certain cities based on population, per National League of Cities classifications.³ Counties follow a separate and more mixed pattern: some states give all counties home rule, some keep all counties under Dillon's Rule, and about half use a mix. Preemption fights since 2023 have hit minimum wage ordinances, overturned in Birmingham, Kansas City, and Louisville and Lexington among others, and rent control, which roughly three dozen states preempt at the local level as of early 2026.

Where you come in

Charter amendments are typically decided by voter referendum, giving residents direct say over their own city's governing structure. Tracking state preemption bills as they move through the legislature is the main way to see a fight over local authority coming before it becomes law. Municipal leagues and county associations lobby state legislatures on behalf of local governments and publish which powers are at risk each session.

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