Legal Definitions - village

A village refers to two primary concepts:

• First, it commonly describes a small, informal community consisting of a modest collection of houses and buildings that serve as residences and places of business. This type of village is typically not a formally organized governmental entity.

• Second, in a legal and governmental context, particularly in some states, a village is a specific type of municipal corporation. This means it is a legally recognized governmental unit established by state law, generally characterized by a smaller population and a less extensive governmental structure compared to a city. In certain jurisdictions, this type of entity might also be referred to as a town or borough.

Examples:

• Imagine driving through a rural area and seeing a cluster of about twenty homes, a small general store, and a post office along the main road. Locals might refer to this settlement as the village of Meadowbrook. This illustrates the traditional, informal sense of a village as a small, unincorporated community where people live and conduct basic business, without a formal municipal government or elected officials.

• The Village of Green Valley, with a population of 7,500, has its own elected mayor and board of trustees. It is responsible for providing local services such as trash collection, maintaining public parks, and enforcing local ordinances. This demonstrates the legal definition, where "village" designates a specific type of municipal corporation with defined governmental powers and responsibilities, established and recognized under state law, distinct from larger cities or unincorporated areas.

• Residents of the Village of Lakeside often commute to the nearby City of Riverbend for specialized medical care or to attend university. Lakeside, with its focus on residential zoning and local elementary schools, operates on a smaller scale than Riverbend, which manages a major public transportation system and a large regional hospital. This example highlights how a village, in its legal sense, often represents a smaller governmental unit compared to a city, typically serving a smaller population and providing a more localized set of services as defined by state statutes.