Chapter 2: Home Rule and Its Limits

This chapter explores in detail the “home rule” authority granted to cities by the Oregon Constitution and the limits placed on it by state and federal authority. Part I begins with the origins of Oregon’s home rule amendments. The majority of the chapter then focuses on preemption, which is the result of state or federal lawmakers passing a law and preventing local laws on the same subject. Part II covers the background and modern principles of Oregon’s state preemption doctrine, which is the displacement of local lawmaking authority by state statutes. Part III then turns to the basic principles of federal preemption, which is the displacement of local laws by federal statutes. Finally, Part IV briefly addresses how the sovereign rights of state and federal government passively restrain local authority, even when state and federal lawmakers are not actively preempting local authority.