Nauvoo charter

“An Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo,” approved 16 December 1840 by the Illinois general assembly to legally organize the city of Nauvoo. The charter authorized the creation of a city council, consisting initially of a mayor, four aldermen, and nine council members; and a municipal court with jurisdiction over local cases and the power to issue writs of habeas corpus. The charter also included provisions for a university and a local militia. While no specific provision of Nauvoo’s charter was unique among Illinois city charters, the combination of powers in the charter and the energetic use of those powers became a source of contention. After efforts to repeal the charter during JS’s lifetime, it was finally repealed in January 1845.