Mich. Comp. Laws » Michigan Compiled Laws / Chapter 42 / Act 359 of 1947
Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 42.20 (2026)

Legislation to be ordinance or resolution; form, passage, amendment, recording, authentication, and compilation of ordinances.

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THE CHARTER TOWNSHIP ACT


Act 359 of 1947


42.20 Legislation to be ordinance or resolution; form, passage, amendment, recording, authentication, and compilation of ordinances.

Sec. 20.

    (1) Legislation of a charter township shall be by ordinance or by resolution. A resolution shall be limited to matters required or permitted to be done by resolution by this act or by state or federal law and to matters pertaining to the internal affairs or concerns of the township government. Any other act of the township board, and any act imposing a sanction for the violation of the act, shall be by ordinance. “Resolution” means the official action of the township board in the form of a motion.

    (2) Each ordinance shall be identified by a number and a short title. Each proposed ordinance shall be introduced in written or printed form. The style of an ordinance shall be, “The charter township of .................... ordains:”. Except in the case of an ordinance that is declared to be an emergency ordinance, an ordinance shall not be finally passed by the township board at the same meeting at which it is introduced, or before it is published in the form in which it is introduced. An ordinance shall not be revised, altered, or amended by reference to its title only, but the section or sections of the ordinance revised, altered, or amended shall be re-enacted and published at length. When enacted, an ordinance shall be immediately recorded by the township clerk in a book to be called “The ordinance book”. The supervisor and township clerk shall authenticate the record by their official signatures on the record. The ordinances of each charter township shall be compiled and published in loose leaf or booklet form not less than once in every 10-year period.

History: 1947, Act 359, Eff. Oct. 11, 1947 ;-- CL 1948, 42.20 ;-- Am. 1949, Act 70, Eff. Sept. 23, 1949 ;-- Am. 1994, Act 13, Eff. May 1, 1994

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1985–2019 · leading case: Huron Twp. v. City Disposal Sys., Inc., 531 N.W.2d 153 (Mich. 1995).
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Huron Twp. v. City Disposal Sys., Inc., 531 N.W.2d 153 (Mich. 1995). · cites it 2× “MCL 42.20; MSA 5.46(20) provides that legislation of charter townships shall be by ordinance.”
Hammons v. City of Highland Park Police Dep't, 364 N.W.2d 575 (Mich. 1985). · cites it 2× “See also 1B Larson, Workmen's Compensation Law, § 42.20 et seq. Professor Larson has written: "Although it is sometimes said that the suicide must stem from a `compensable physical injury,' this statement is unduly restrictive.”
Phil Forner v. Allendale Charter Twp. Supervisor, No. 339072 (Mich. Ct. App. Mar. 21, 2019). “15 in relevant part provides township boards the authority to enact ordinances and MCL 42.20(1) authorizes charter townships as follows: Legislation of a charter township shall be by ordinance or by resolution.”
Mich. Comp. Laws § 42.20(1): 1 case
Phil Forner v. Allendale Charter Twp. Supervisor, No. 339072 (Mich. Ct. App. Mar. 21, 2019). “15 in relevant part provides township boards the authority to enact ordinances and MCL 42.20(1) authorizes charter townships as follows: Legislation of a charter township shall be by ordinance or by resolution.”
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