Section 6: Special delegation

In the event of the dissolution of a municipal council or the resignation of all its serving members, or in the event of the final annulment of the election of all its members, or where a municipal council cannot be constituted, a special delegation shall perform its functions.

The special delegation is appointed by decision of the representative of the State in the département within eight days of the dissolution, the definitive annulment of the elections, the acceptance of the resignation or the declaration that it is impossible to form the municipal council. The special delegation elects its chairman and, if applicable, its vice-chairman. The chairman, or, failing that, the vice-chairman, performs the duties of mayor. His powers…

The number of members making up the special delegation is set at three in communes where the population does not exceed 35,000. This number may be increased to seven in communes with a higher population.

The powers of the special delegation are limited to acts of purely conservatory and urgent administration. Under no circumstances is it permitted to commit municipal finances beyond the available resources of the current financial year. It may neither prepare the communal budget, nor receive the accounts of the mayor or the receiver, nor modify the staff or regime of public education.

The functions of the special delegation instituted pursuant to article L. 2121-35 expire ipso jure as soon as the municipal council is reconstituted.