The inhabitants of the City of DeSoto in Dallas County, Texas within the corporate limits as now established, or hereafter established in the manner prescribed by this Charter, shall be and shall continue to be a municipal body politic and corporate in perpetuity under the name of the “City of DeSoto.”
The municipal government provided by this Charter shall be known as the “Council-Manager” government. Pursuant to its provisions and subject only to the limitations imposed by the State Constitution, by the statutory laws of Texas, and by this Charter, all powers of the City shall be vested in an elective Council, hereinafter referred to as the “Council,” which shall enact local legislation, adopt budgets, determine policies, appoint the City Secretary, City Attorney, and Judge of the Municipal Court, and the Council shall also appoint the City Manager, who shall execute the laws and administer the government of the City.
The City shall have all powers that now are or hereafter may be granted to municipalities by the Constitution or laws of the State of Texas, and all such powers, whether expressed or implied, shall be exercised and enforced in the manner prescribed by this charter, and when not prescribed therein, in such manner as may be provided by ordinance or resolution of the City Council of the City of DeSoto. The enumeration of particular powers in the charter shall not be held or deemed to be exclusive, but in addition to the powers enumerated herein, implied thereby or appropriate to the exercise thereof, the City shall have and may exercise all other powers which, under the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas, it would be competent for the charter specifically to enumerate. The City of DeSoto shall have and exercise all powers conferred upon cities by what is known as the Home Rule Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Texas and the enabling Act relative thereto, and all other laws passed by the Legislature of the State of Texas relating thereto or which may hereafter be passed by said Legislature in relation to such matters. The City shall have the full power, authority and right to exercise the power of eminent domain in any manner authorized or permitted by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas when necessary or desirable to carry out any of the powers conferred upon by this charter or by the Constitution and laws of State of Texas. The power of eminent domain hereby conferred shall include the right of the City to take the fee in land so condemned and such power and authority shall include the right to condemn public property for such purposes. The City shall have and possess the power of eminent domain for any municipal or public purposes even though not specifically enumerated in this charter.
(Ordinance 2324-23 adopted 7/18/2023)
The City shall have exclusive dominion, control, and jurisdiction in, upon, over, and under the public streets, sidewalks, alleys, highways, public squares, and public ways within the corporate limits of the City, and in, upon, over, and under all public property of the City. With respect to each and every public street, sidewalk, alley, highway, public square, public park, or other public way within the corporate limits of the City, the City shall have the power to establish, maintain, improve, alter, abandon, or vacate the same; to regulate the use thereof; and to abate and remove in a summary manner any encroachment thereon.
The City shall have the power to develop and improve, or cause to be developed and improved, any and all public streets, sidewalks, alleys, highways, and other public ways within the corporate limits of the City by laying out, opening, narrowing, widening, straightening, extending, lighting and establishing building lines along the same; by purchasing, condemning, and taking property therefor by filling, grading, raising, lowering, paving, repaving, and repairing, in a permanent manner, the same; and by constructing, reconstructing, altering, repairing, and realigning curbs, gutters, drains, sidewalks, culverts, and other appurtenances and incidentals in connection with such development and improvement authorized hereinabove, or any combination or parts thereof. The cost of such development and improvement may be paid partly or entirely by assessments levied as a lien against the property abutting thereon and against the owners thereof, and such assessments may be levied in any amounts and under any procedure not prohibited by State Law; provided, that no assessment shall be made against such land or owners in excess of the enhancement in value of such property occasioned by such improvement.
As an alternate and cumulative method of developing, improving, and paving any and all public streets, sidewalks, alleys, highways, and other public ways within is [its] corporate limits, the City shall have the power and authority to proceed in accordance with Chapter 106, Page 489, Acts 1927, Fortieth Legislature, First Called Session, as now or hereafter amended, the same being Article 1105b of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925.
The boundaries of the City of DeSoto shall be those as established and described in ordinances duly passed by the City Council of the City of DeSoto in accordance with state law. The City Secretary shall maintain an official map of the city's boundaries as required by state law.
(Ordinance 2324-23 adopted 7/18/2023)
(1) 
The boundaries of the City of DeSoto may be enlarged and extended by the annexation of additional territory or decreased by disannexation in any manner and by any procedure now or hereafter provided by law.
(2) 
Upon completion of the annexation procedure, the annexed territory shall become a part of the city, and said land and its residents shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges provided by the City for its citizens and shall be bound by the acts, ordinances, resolutions and regulations of the City.
(3) 
If, after the date of annexation, there exists land within and adjacent to the corporate limits of the City of DeSoto not receiving governmental or proprietary services of the City within the time required by the service plan or Chapter 43 of Texas Local Government Code, or its successor statute, then a majority of the qualified voters residing within this particular area may petition the City Council to disannex the area as provided in Chapter 43 of Texas Local Government Code, or its successor statute.
(Ordinance 2324-23 adopted 7/18/2023)