Codification Services

'Ordinances' are the legislative enactments of municipal governing bodies. A 'code of ordinances' is a compilation (codification) of all city ordinances of a general and continuing nature, and penal ordinances.

Codification

Cities adopt ordinances one at a time. Eventually, this collection of ordinances becomes unwieldy unless it is organized under common categories and indexed. Organizing individual laws into a coherent book of laws is called 'codification'. MTAS offers, on a fee-for-service basis, experienced in-house legal and administrative personnel to provide codification services to Tennessee municipalities. For more information, contact Melissa Ashburn, 865-974-0411.

Updating Your Code

Once your code is adopted, MTAS will update it for you. We recommend that you update your code annually to incorporate any ordinances that have been passed. The first update should be scheduled one year after final reading of your code-adopting ordinance. For more information, contact Nancy Gibson, 865-974-9846.

Ordinances

Ordinances repeal, replace, or amend existing code sections. They can also add new sections to the code. Ordinances you adopt must be specific as to the sections and language within the code that is changed. To ensure that updates are done correctly, MTAS has created some procedures and examples. Please reference our publication, 'Your Municipal Code...adopting it and keeping it up-to-date' for additional information.

Last Updated 09/01/2009