Mount Laurel voted to change its form of government in 1970 from a Township Committee form to a Faulkner Act system using the Council-Manager (Plan E), enacted based on the recommendations of a Charter Study Commission as of January 1, 1972."The Faulkner Act: New Jersey's Optional Municipal Charter Law" , New Jersey State League of Municipalities, July 2007. Accessed October 23, 2013. The township is one of 42 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government.Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey, Rutgers University Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed November 18, 2019. In this form of government, the Township Manager oversees the daily functions of the Township. The governing body is comprised of the Township Council, which is made up of five members elected at-large in partisan elections to serve four-year terms on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election in even-numbered years as part of the November general election.2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book, Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 43. At an annual reorganization meeting held in January, the council selects one of its members to serve as mayor and another to serve as deputy mayor, each for a one-year term.
