The rule limiting municipal powers to those expressively granted or implied is commonly known as:

The rule limiting municipal powers to those expressively granted or implied is commonly known as:

• A. Home Rule.
• B. Ultra vires.
• C. Statute.
• D. Dillon's Rule.

Answer: (D)

Dillon's Rule states that municipalities are creatures of the state and may exercise only those powers that the state explicitly grants or that are necessarily or fairly implied in the granted powers. In other words, local governments don’t have broad inherent authority; their powers come from state law, and any ambiguity about what they can do is resolved in favor of limiting their authority. This keeps authority centralized at the state level and prevents cities from acting beyond what is authorized. By contrast, Home Rule reverses this tendency by allowing municipalities greater self-governance, within constitutional and statutory limits. Ultra vires describes acting beyond the scope of granted powers, which Dillon's Rule aims to prevent. A statute is simply the legal vehicle through which the state grants authority to municipalities, not the doctrine about the scope of that authority.

Dillon's Rule states that municipalities are creatures of the state and may exercise only those powers that the state explicitly grants or that are necessarily or fairly implied in the granted powers. In other words, local governments don’t have broad inherent authority; their powers come from state law, and any ambiguity about what they can do is resolved in favor of limiting their authority. This keeps authority centralized at the state level and prevents cities from acting beyond what is authorized.

By contrast, Home Rule reverses this tendency by allowing municipalities greater self-governance, within constitutional and statutory limits. Ultra vires describes acting beyond the scope of granted powers, which Dillon's Rule aims to prevent. A statute is simply the legal vehicle through which the state grants authority to municipalities, not the doctrine about the scope of that authority.