ARTICLE 1
Incorporation; Town Form of Government; Power

Sec. 1.1. Incorporation.
The legal residents of the Town of Hooksett shall continue to be a body politic and corporate under the name of the 'Town of Hooksett" and as such to enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and privileges and be subject to all duties and liabilities now appertaining to or incumbent upon them as a municipal corporation. All existing property of the Town shall remain vested in it, and all its existing debts and obligations shall remain obligatory upon it under this chapter.

Sec. 1.2. Town Form of Government.
The administration of the fiscal, prudential, municipal and other affairs of the Town, with the governance thereof, shall be vested in an executive branch to consist of a Town Administrator and the various departments of the Town as established by this Charter and from time to time by the Town Council. Legislative powers, not otherwise vested in another body as provided by this Charter, shall be vested in the Town Council and the Budgetary Town Meeting. Except as expressly authorized by this Charter, no Councilor shall participate in the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Town.

Sec. 1.3. Construction.
The powers of the municipality under this Charter are to be construed liberally in favor of the Town, and the specific mention of particular powers is not intended to limit any way the general powers of the municipality as stated in Sec. 1.1.

Sec. 1.4. Intergovernmental Relations.
Subject only to express limitations in the provisions of the New Hampshire Statutes, the Town may exercise any of its powers or perform any of its functions under this Charter and may participate in the financing thereof, jointly or in cooperation, by contract or otherwise, with the State of New Hampshire, or any political subdivision or agency thereof, or the United States of America or any agency thereof.

Sec. 1.5. Initial Districting.
Upon adoption of this Charter, the Board of Selectmen of Hooksett shall on or before 07/15/88 prepare preliminary district boundaries. After public hearings held thereon, the selectmen shall finalize district boundaries by 10/15/88 and publish and disseminate district maps.

February 3, 1988
The Town shall be divided into six (6) voting districts; each established to consist of as nearly as possible an equal number of residents. The largest district shall be no more than 10% greater than the smallest district. Each district shall have well defined boundaries.

1. No later than two years after the official publication of the decennial United States of America census, the Supervisors of the Checklist (defined in 2.2 hereof) shall establish new district boundaries so as to establish six (6) equal (population-based) districts. The Supervisors of the Checklist may establish their own rules and procedures to conduct redistricting; however, they shall have at least one public hearing on its proposed new district boundaries.
2. Upon the written petition signed by at least ten percent (10%) of the registered voters in the Town, the Town election officers shall include on the ballot at the next Town annual election the following question: "Shall the Supervisors of the Checklist be directed to establish new district boundaries for the Town no later than one (1) year from the passage of this question? "Yes or No". However, no petition for redistricting shall be accepted within three (3) years of any previous action to redistrict. If a majority at that May election vote "Yes", then the Supervisors of the Checklist shall establish new equal districts for the Town pursuant to its redistricting rules and procedures and based on such population and census data as the Supervisors of the Checklist finds fair and reliable; however they shall have at least one public hearing on their proposed new district boundaries.