Incorporation; referendum; ballot, form and content; filing of petition or resolution by township clerk; finality of proceedings; term of incumbent officers; disincorporation.

MCL 42.2

in effect

42.2. Incorporation; referendum; ballot, form and content; filing of petition or resolution by township clerk; finality of proceedings; term of incumbent officers; disincorporation. Sec. 2. Any eligible township shall become a charter township when the inhabitants thereof shall, by a majority vote of the electors thereof, voting on such proposition, declare in favor thereof at any general or special election at which the proposition to incorporate as a charter township shall be submitted to the electors of the township. At such election the township clerk shall prepare a ballot for the submission of such proposition in accordance with the general election laws of the state and setting forth such proposition as follows: “Shall the township of ..................... incorporate as a charter township which shall be a municipal corporation subject to the provisions of Act No. 359 of the Public Acts of 1947, as amended, which act shall constitute the charter of such municipal corporation? Yes ( ) No ( )” If on the vote being canvassed on the question of incorporation as a charter township, the result is determined to be in favor of such incorporation, the township clerk shall file with the secretary of state and with the county clerk of the county within which the township is located a copy of the petition or resolution initiating the move to become a charter township, together with the notice of the election at which such question was submitted to the electors of the township, the ballot upon which such question was submitted, and a certificate of the board of canvassers showing that the purposes of such petition or resolution have been approved by a majority of the electors of the township voting thereon, which certificate shall also give the number of votes cast on such proposition and the number cast for and against the same. From the date of such filing, the township shall be duly and legally incorporated as a charter township. After the filing of such petition or resolution and the other papers hereinabove required, neither the sufficiency thereof nor the legality of the incorporation of the township as a charter township may be questioned in any proceeding except by proceedings in the nature of quo warranto which shall be brought within 40 days after the date of such filing. All officers of any township which shall elect to become a charter township shall serve in the offices to which they have been elected or appointed for the balance of the terms for which they were elected or appointed and until their successors elect or to be elected shall qualify for and assume their respective offices. Any charter township may be disincorporated and returned to its previous status as a township governed under the provisions of chapter 16 of the Revised Statutes of 1846, as amended, being sections 41.1 to 41.103 of the Compiled Laws of 1948, by following the same procedures therefor as provided herein for adopting the provisions of this act. No election to disincorporate shall be held until 4 years after incorporation nor oftener than once each 4 years. 1947, Act 359, Eff. Oct. 11, 1947; CL 1948, 42.2; Am. 1949, Act 70, Eff. Sept. 23, 1949; Am. 1964, Act 163, Eff. Aug. 28, 1964

Source: Michigan Legislature (legislature.mi.gov)URL: https://legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-42-2Fetched: 10/20/2026