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Finding Pennsylvania Municipal Codes

By Michelle Buhalo •  September 9, 2021

The local level governments in Pennsylvania consist of counties, cities, boroughs, and townships. These local levels (also called "municipalities") may have ordinances or laws compiled into local codes. Many Pennsylvania municipalities provide free online access to their codes through a third-party publisher. The most common of these publishers are listed below.

American Legal Publishing - Online codes for Pennsylvania municipalities include Johnstown, Lower Chichester Township, Philadelphia, Reading, Sharon, and Swarthmore.

Code Publishing - Contains the online version of the Code of Ordinances for more than a dozen Pennsylvania municipalities, including Bristol Township, Richland Township, and Yardley Borough.

General Code Publishers - Features online codes for more than 500 Pennsylvania municipalities, plus towns and cities in over 20 other states.

Municipal Code Corporation - Covers all U.S. states. Online codes for Pennsylvania municipalities include Bensalem Township, Kennett Square, Kennett Township, London Grove Township, Marshall Township, Pittsburgh, Southampton Township, and Wilkes-Barre.

If the municipality is not included in one of the above resources, try searching the municipality's website. You may need to contact the municipality directly.

For additional information on municipalities in Pennsylvania, see Pennsylvania Legal Research Handbook Chapter 5: Municipal Law and The Pennsylvania Manual Section 6: Local Government.

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