About On the Books

Every American town runs on a municipal code — the local law that decides how tall your fence can be, when your neighbor's generator has to go quiet, whether you can keep chickens, and what happens if you don't shovel your sidewalk. Those codes are public, but they're written for lawyers and scattered across dozens of publishing systems.

On the Books puts them in one place, in plain English. Pick from 9,646 towns across all 50 states, ask a question the way you'd ask a person, and get an answer that cites the actual chapter and section of your town's official published code — with a link, so you can read the law itself.

Where the law text comes from

Every town's material is drawn from its official published municipal code — the same text the town itself publishes through its code publisher. Each town's page shows how current its code text is. Answers always cite the specific chapter and section they rely on; if we can't find it in the code, we say so rather than guess.

What On the Books is not

It is not legal advice, and it is not a lawyer. It's a reference desk: a fast, honest way to find out what's on the books. Codes change, towns amend, and enforcement is its own story — for anything that matters, verify the cited section at the official source, and talk to your town clerk or an attorney.

The Town Hall Pass

Your first question in any town is free. A Town Hall Pass — $5 a year — gives you 150 questions a year in any town in the library, plus unlimited search across every code. There's no account to create: checkout runs through Stripe, and your pass lives in your browser. One flat price, because finding out what the law says shouldn't cost more than a sandwich.

Two other passes, for different needs: a Day Pass — $2 — covers 24 hours and up to 20 questions, for the day you're dealing with one thing. A Pro Pass — $15 for 30 days — covers up to 400 questions (40 a day) for people who use the clerk every day: agents, contractors, attorneys, clerks. Every pass includes unlimited library-wide search. None of them renews on its own except the yearly Town Hall Pass. Outgrow a pass and the next one up costs less: what you paid for the pass you hold comes off the price at checkout, and the old pass folds into the new one.

Bulk and institutional access

The library is 9,646 towns' worth of municipal code, read into one consistent structure. If you need it at that scale rather than a question at a time — a feed into your own product, an extract for research, or a set of towns watched for changes — that is arranged directly rather than through the pass. Say what you're building and you'll get a straight answer about whether it's something we can do.

Who runs the desk

On the Books is an independent reference desk. It is not affiliated with any town, county, state, or code publisher, and no town pays to be on the shelves — the law text is the towns' own, cited and linked back to the official source every time. The library grows on a schedule: new towns are added as their codes are read in, and codes that have been republished are re-read monthly so each page says how current it is.

Mail to the desk is read by a person. Write to hello@onthebooks.org or use the contact form; replies usually go out within a couple of days. Passes are paid through Stripe, which also handles receipts and refunds (terms).

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