The article is devoted to the study of anti-corruption in the state and municipal services. The article considers the theoretical and methodological foundations of combating corruption in the municipal service: approaches to the concept of corruption. Currently, corruption offences in Russia cover almost all areas of state power and management. The media often recite a comparison of corruption with rust, in which it appears to be a corrosion of power. As rust weakens iron, allowing it to corrode, corruption weakens the structure and even the very concept of government, separating the moral foundations of society. Modern corruption is a multitude of diverse structures that carry out not only criminal activities, but also are included in the global mechanisms of the shadow economy. Corruption involves the use of a signifi variety of instruments: political, social, economic, blackmail and threats, espionage and other illegal activities, which together constitute a developed heterogeneous system. At the same time, the modern stage of the development of corruption interactions is characterized by transnational and systemic. Corruption does not recognize any boundaries. It is ubiquitous and has reached an international level. Corruption has been integrated into all spheres of human activity.