Municipal status in Radictistan

Municipal status in Radictistan is granted by the Radictistani crown to a select number of urban communities. Municipal status allows for the creation of a local government according to the terms of a municipal charter. Municipal status is generally granted on the basis of population, with all municipal charters granted to date having created municipalities with a population of at least ten thousand persons.

Current practice of granting municipal status

The residents of any unincorporated area in Radictistan can petition the Crown for municipal status. The decision whether to grant municipal status is made by the Grand Duke with the advice of the Privy Council. Because of the ramifications of municipal status including the redrawing of local government boundaries, municipal status is rarely grant. The normal practice has been to grant municipal status to areas with a population of ten thousand or higher. In recent years there has been a de facto moratorium with no municipal charters granted.

Municipal status conferment

Municipal status is conferred by the grant of a municipal charter. The charter defines the boundary of the new municipality and lays out the workings of the municipal government such as the number of members of the municipal council (Radictistani: Statsrat) and the nature of their election. Regardless of the particular charter, all municipalities have an elected municipal council and an elected mayor (Radictistani: Statmeister).

Municipalities and Departments, which are the lowest level of government in rural areas, never overlap. When a municipal charter is granted the new municipality is detached from the department or departments in which the territory defined by the charter lies.