“New and Improved” Forms of Government Database Now Available by Rebecca Fisher-Gabbard

Each municipality (city, town, and village) in North Carolina has its own particular form of government, initially set out in the municipal charter and subject to change by local acts of the General Assembly and local ordinances adopted by the governing board of the municipality. Dating back to the mid-1950s, the School of Government has captured and cataloged the form of government information for each city, town, and village in North Carolina (some 550-plus of them) and made that data publicly available. The “Forms of Government” database—originally a written publication, more recently a web platform—is a one-of-a-kind resource; no other organization in the state (and perhaps country) tracks and compiles this information. Over the last nine months, the database has undergone a wholesale legal update and functional transformation, including a new, interactive interface with improved searchability. It is available at “Forms of Government and Methods of Election in North Carolina Municipalities.” This blog post offers an overview of forms of government and charter modifications in North Carolina, describes the retooled database, and highlights related resources.

Forms of Government Overview

As the name indicates, “form of government” refers to the system by which a government is organized and governed. In North Carolina, each municipality has unique form of government characteristics, articulated in the municipality’s charter. A charter is an act of the North Carolina General Assembly incorporating the municipality, setting its boundaries, and determining its forms. The law defines charter as “the entire body of local acts currently in force applicable to a particular [municipality].” G.S. 160A-1(a). A compilation of each municipality’s charter history is available through the General Assembly’s webpage, “City Charters.” Some municipalities also publish their charters on the municipality’s website or via an ordinance codification service/software platform, such as Municode.

Pursuant to G.S. 160A-101, forms of municipal government in North Carolina include the following characteristics:

1. The corporate name (the name of the municipality);
2. The “style” of the municipality (city, town, or village);
3. The “style” of the governing board (board of commissioners, board of alderman, or council);
4. The size of the governing board (number of members);
5. The terms of office of governing board members;
6. The “mode of election” of the governing board (at-large, from districts, or both);
7. The “method of election” used in the municipality (partisan, plurality, primary, majority);
8. The selection of the mayor (election, by and from the governing board, etc.); and
9. The form of government (mayor-council (G.S. 160A-155) or council-manager (G.S. 160A-147)).

For further reading on forms of government, see Kimberly Nelson’s chapter on “County and Municipal Governing Boards” in the 2025 edition of County and Municipal Government in North Carolina.

Local Charter Modifications to Forms of Government

As noted above, a municipality’s charter is an act of the North Carolina General Assembly. Typically, only the General Assembly can amend or repeal one of its own acts. Nevertheless, by enactment of G.S. 160A-101 through 160A-111 (the “charter change statute”), the General Assembly has delegated this power to amend the charter to that municipality’s governing board, voters, or both. (A copy of the charter change statute is also housed under the “Forms of North Carolina Municipal Government” microsite.)

The General Assembly’s delegation is limited in scope. The charter provisions that may be amended by a council or voters are listed in G.S. 160A-101 (see above). That listing is exclusive, meaning that municipalities may only modify the nine form of government characteristics enumerated in the charter change statute. If a municipal governing board or voters wish to amend the charter to make some sort of change not included among those nine, the council or the voters must request that the General Assembly make the change; the charter change statute is not available to them.

A charter modification under the statute is effective without any sort of action by the General Assembly to ratify what the municipality has done. Although the General Assembly has delegated this power of charter amendment to municipalities and voters, the legislature has not relinquished its own authority to amend a municipality’s charter. Nothing in the charter change statute bars the General Assembly from reversing an amendment made by a council or voters. The charter remains a legislative act and as such is always amenable to legislative change.

“Modifying a Municipality’s Charter: Legal Summary and Answers to Questions,” authored by School of Government faculty Frayda Bluestein and Bob Joyce, provides a thorough legal summary of the process for charter changes in North Carolina and answers dozens of frequently asked questions on this topic. The “Forms of North Carolina Municipal Government” microsite also includes numerous “Sample Forms for Charter Changes” for use by governing boards wishing to modify their charters as well as citizens hoping to initiate a charter change. The “Changing Forms of Government” sub-page provides an introduction to the topic and houses each of these resources.

Forms of Government Database

The reimagined Forms of Government database allows users to view and search information pertaining to the forms of government and methods of election for each municipality in North Carolina. A database “user guide” describes how to navigate the database, defines key terms, and explains the sources of data and process for updates.

Data “At A Glance”

As of this update, there were 551 active municipalities in North Carolina. The vast majority of municipalities, approximately 83 percent, style themselves as “towns,” about 14 percent as “cities,” and the rest as “villages.” Most governing bodies are styled as a board of commissioners (46 percent), followed very closely by city/town/village council (43 percent), and far fewer board of aldermen (11 percent). The most popular number of governing boards members is 5, then 4, and then 6. Fewer than 1 percent of boards total have 1, 9, or 11 members. Approximately 51 percent of municipalities organize themselves under the mayor-council form of government, whereas 49 percent have adopted the council-manager plan. By far, the most popular election method remains plurality, at just under 91 percent of municipalities.

Improved Functionality & New Displays

The database offers users several options for navigation. First, users can view the form of government characteristics for a particular municipality simply by searching the name of the unit. Users may view the units that share common structures by selecting one or more categories, such as all “cities” whose mayor serves a four-year term or all municipalities with a population over 25,000 that use partisan elections. In addition, users can view the entire set of data alphabetically, by population categories, or by applying custom search criteria. Lastly, users have the option to view and download a statewide summary with population metrics or to download the entire dataset.

The data visualization tools—dashboards, charts, and displays—are the greatest addition to the platform. The dashboards automatically update with manipulation of categories and data in the database.

As a note, the database table includes dissolved municipalities as historical data but indicates such municipalities with an asterisk symbol. Dissolved municipalities are excluded from all data visualizations as well as the statewide summary.

Data Sources & Maintenance

The data contained in the database is sourced from charter changes made by the General Assembly as well as changes made by local ordinance pursuant to the charter change statute that have been reported to the Secretary of State and Legislative Library, as required by G.S. 160A-111. Discrepancies in the data were resolved by outreach to individual municipalities through the municipal clerk, manager, and/or attorney.

To ensure accuracy and completeness, this update captures changes dating back to 2015. All data is up-to-date as of February 2026. Going forward, data will be updated annually, foreseeably between January and March each year.

If you find an error in an entry, would like to report a local change to the School, or have feedback on the reimagined database and dashboards, please share it with faculty member Becca Fisher-Gabbard by email at rfisher@sog.unc.edu.

A Note of Gratitude

This project was a major undertaking. It would not have been possible without the diligent and hard work of many folks at the School of Government, especially Caitlin Little and Jennifer Kent on the legal research team as well as Eva Ramirez-Flores and Lindsay Hoyt with information technology. The School is also grateful to partners at the Legislative Library who helped track down some of these locally-adopted charter amendments. Finally, thanks to database users across the State who have demonstrated great patience throughout this process. Happy searching!