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California Municipal Law Resources

cityattorney.us provides online California city and state law resources.

Brown Act.

The Ralph M. Brown Act is California's open meeting law. For the text of this law, click here. An overview and analysis of the law is included in this summary and in this summary. For "Open and Public IV: A Guide to the Ralph M. Brown Act, click here.

California Attorney General Opinions and State Bar

California Case Law

California Legislative Information

California Regulations

California Statutes

Codes of Cities and Counties.

The codes of many California cities and counties are available online at their official websites. Some of these municipal and county codes are included on the websites of these code publishing companies: American Legal Publishing Company; Book Publishing Company/Lexis; Code Publishing Company; Municipal Code Corporation; Quality Code Publishing.

Ethics Laws.

For the publication "Ethics Law Compliance Best Practices", click here. For the publication "Everyday Ethics for Local Officials: Finding Your Way, click here.

Information Regarding California Cities

Substantial information regarding California cities, including rules and regulations, is often available on their official websites.

     For a listing of the official websites of California cities, click here.

     For a listing of websites of cities in Southern California, click here.

     For a listing of California cities by county, click here.

     For a listing of California cities by name, click here.

     For a listing of California cities by population, click here.

     For a listing of charter cities in California, click here.

     For a listing of the incorporation dates of cities in California, click here.

     For a listing of city attorneys by city, click here.

     For a searchable index of city attorneys in California, click here.

     For a searchable index of California city officials, click here


Municipal Participation in Ballot Measures.

The publication "Legal Issues Associated with City Participation in Ballot Measures" provides a helpful guide regarding the ways in which cities and public officials can participate with ballot measures, as authorized under state law and recent court decisions. Click here.

Official Websites of California Cities

Political Campaign, Lobbying, and Conflict of Interest Laws.

The website for the California Fair Political Practices Commission provides useful resources about laws relating to political campaigns, lobbying and conflict of interest laws. Click here. The text of the Political Reform Act can be found on the FPPC's website at this link. Some cities and counties also have adopted local regulations which impose stricter requirements than those imposed by the State of California.

Proposition 218 and Local Revenues.

Proposition 218 requires that all new property taxes and most charges on property owners are subject to voter approval. For a summary of Proposition 218, see Understanding Prop. 218. For the Proposition 218 Implementation Guide, click here. For an inventory of local tax powers, see this useful guide at this link. For a helpful guide regarding oversight of local agency finances, click at this link.

Public Records Act.

The Public Records Act requires that the public has proper access to specific categories of documents generated and maintained by public entities in California. A useful guide to the Public Records Act is found at the following link. For another guide to the Public Records Act, see this link. The 2010 supplement to this guide can be found at this link.

Use of Public Resources.

The "Public Official's Guide to Use of Public Resources" provides a useful guide on appropriate uses of public resources by elected officials. Click here.


Wallin, Kress, Reisman & Kranitz, LLP, a Santa Monica, California law firm specializing in municipal, land use, redevelopment, and eminent domain law, has provided this website as a public service. The firm's attorneys are Peter Wallin, Bob Kress, Cary Reisman and Lisa Kranitz. For the law firm's website, see www.wkrklaw.com. This website is intended to provide educational and informational materials, not to serve as legal advice. Because the law is constantly changing, the materials and information available through this website may not reflect the latest legal developments. Accordingly, you should not act upon this information without seeking legal counsel. This site was created by Kenneth Rozell. Sitemap. © 2011.