How a Town Becomes Incorporated

• A town becomes incorporated through a legal process, which varies depending on the state in which the town resides.
  
  

Preparing the Application

• The first step towards getting a town incorporated usually involves a person (or people) promoting the idea of incorporating the town, convincing other residents to sign a petition requesting that the town be incorporated. The number of people required to sign the petition in order for it to be considered a successful application varies from state to state. It could be expressed as a certain percentage of the total voters in the area, or it could be simply stated as an arbitrary number.
  
  It is also at this stage of preparing an application for town incorporation that a name must be proposed for the town and other specific must be agreed upon, such as the town's form of government. Once all these are things are compiled into an official application (ideally by a lawyer experienced in this area), it is presented to the state authorities for deliberation.
  
  

The Deliberation and Vote

• The deliberation on whether to incorporate a town is not arbitrary and the question of whether to incorporate the town is always put to public vote. This allows all eligible voters in the area (not just the petitioners) a chance to have their voice heard on this issue. As long as more than a half of the town's residents vote in favor of its incorporation, the request is usually granted.
  
  However, the matter is still subject to a final decision by a county judge (which is highly influenced by the voters' verdict) or in some states, it's put to a final decision through legislative proceedings (in the state legislature)---culminating in the granting of a state charter through which the town is incorporated.