such grouping of municipal corporations into four (or
fewer) classes shall be in effect at any time, and the
enactment of any such grouping of municipal corporations
into four (or fewer) classes shall repeal any such grouping
of municipal corporations into four (or fewer) classes then
in effect. Municipal corporations shall be classified only as
provided in this section and not otherwise.

SEC. 3. Any such municipal corporation, now existing
or hereafter created, shall have the power and authority, (a)
to amend or repeal an existing charter or local laws relating
to the incorporation, organization, government, or affairs
of said municipal corporation heretofore enacted by the
General Assembly of Maryland, and (b) to adopt a new
charter, and to amend or repeal any charter adopted under
the provisions of this Article.

SEC. 4. The adoption of a new charter, the amendment
of any charter or local laws, or the repeal of any part of a charter
or local laws shall be proposed either by a resolution of the
legislative body of any such municipal corporation or by a
petition containing the signatures of at least five per cent of the
registered voters of a municipal corporation and filed with the
legislative body of said municipal corporation. The General
Assembly shall amplify the provisions of this section by general
law in any manner not inconsistent with this Article.

SEC. 5. Notwithstanding any other provision in this
Article, the General Assembly may enact, amend, or repeal
local laws placing a maximum limit on the rate at which
property taxes may be imposed by any such municipal corpo-
ration and regulating the maximum amount of debt which
may be incurred by any municipal corporation. However, no
such local law shall become effective in regard to a municipal
corporation until and unless it shall have been approved at a
regular or special municipal election by a majority of the
voters of that municipal corporation voting on the question.
No such municipal corporation shall levy any type of tax,
license fee, franchise tax or fee which was not in effect in such
municipal corporation on January 1, 1954, unless it shall
receive the express authorization of the General Assembly for
such purpose, by a general law which in its terms and its effect
applies alike to all municipal corporations in one or more of
the classes provided for in Section 2 of this Article. All charter
provisions enacted under the authority of Section 3 of this
Article shall be subject to any local laws enacted by the
General Assembly and approved by the municipal voters
under the provisions of this section.

SEC. 6. All charter provisions, or amendments thereto,
adopted under the provisions of this Article, shall be subject
to all applicable laws enacted by the General Assembly;
except that any local laws, or amendments thereto, relating
to the incorporation, organization, government, or affairs
of any municipal corporation and enacted before this Arti-
cle becomes effective, shall be subject to any charter provi-
sions, or amendments thereto, adopted under the
provisions of this Article. Any local law, or amendments
thereto, relating to the incorporation, organization, gov-
ernment, or affairs of any municipal corporation and in
effect at the time this Article becomes effective, shall be
subject to any applicable State law enacted after this Article
becomes effective. All laws enacted by the General Assem-
bly and in effect at the time this Article becomes effective,
shall remain in effect until amended or repealed in accord-
ance with the provisions of this Constitution. Nothing in
this Article shall be construed to authorize any municipal
corporation by any amendment or addition to its charter,
to permit any act which is prohibited by the laws of this

State concerning the observance of the Sabbath Day or the
manufacture, licensing or sale of alcoholic beverages.

ARTICLE XI-F.¹⁹⁹
HOME RULE FOR CODE COUNTIES.

SECTION 1. For the purposes of this Article, (1)
"code county" means a county which is not a charter county
under Article 11A of this Constitution and has adopted the
optional powers of home rule provided under this Article;
and (2) "public local law" means a law applicable to the
incorporation, organization, or government of a code
county and contained in the county's code of public local
laws; but this latter term specifically does not include (i)
the charters of municipal corporations under Article 11E
of this Constitution, (ii) the laws or charters of counties
under Article 11A of this Constitution, (iii) laws, whether
or not Statewide in application, in the code of public
general laws, (iv) laws which apply to more than one
county, and (v) ordinances and resolutions of the county
government enacted under public local laws.

SEC. 2. The governing body of any county, by a vote of
at least two-thirds of the members elected thereto, may
propose by resolution that the county become a code county
and be governed by the provisions of this Article. Upon the
adoption of such a resolution, it shall be certified to the Board
of Supervisors of Elections in the county, which Board (pur-
suant to the election laws of the State) shall submit to the
voters of the county at the next ensuing general election the
question whether the resolution shall be approved or rejected.
If in the referendum a majority of those persons voting on
this question vote for the resolution, the resolution is ap-
proved, and the county shall become a code county under the
provisions of this Article, on the thirtieth day after the
election. If in the referendum a majority of those persons
voting on this question vote against the resolution, the
resolution is rejected, and of no further effect.

Provided that if at the next ensuing general election there
shall be submitted to the voters of the county a proposed
charter under Article 11A of this Constitution, the proposed
charter only shall be submitted to the voters at that next
ensuing general election. If the proposed charter is adopted
by the voters, this particular resolution to become a code
county shall not be submitted to the voters and shall have
no further effect. If the proposed charter is rejected by the
voters, the code question under this Article shall be submit-
ted to the voters at the general election two years later, and
no charter question under Article 11A shall be submitted to
the voters at that general election.

SEC. 3. Except as otherwise provided in this Article,
a code county may enact, amend, or repeal a public local
law of that county, following the procedure in this Article.

SEC. 4. Except as otherwise provided in this Article,
the General Assembly shall not enact, amend, or repeal a
public local law which is special or local in its terms or effect
within a code county. The General Assembly may enact,
amend, or repeal public local laws applicable to code
counties only by general enactments which in term and
effect apply alike to all code counties in one or more of the
classes provided for in Section 5 of this Article.

SEC. 5. The General Assembly, by law, shall classify
all code counties by grouping them into not more than four
classes based either upon population as determined in the
most recent Federal or State census or upon such other
criteria as determined by the General Assembly to be