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| {{mergeto|Local government in the United States|discuss=Talk:Local government in the United States#Merger proposal|date=April 2013}} | |||
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| '''County governments in the United States''' are the ] of the administrative subdivisions of ]. They are the intermediate tier of unitary state government, between the statewide tier and the immediately local government tier. A county may be further divided into districts or townships. | |||
| County governments have powers that are specified by the ] and ], and by their ] if they have one. These powers are usually exercised by a ] (called variously in various states a board of supervisors, county council, commissioners' court, fiscal court, board of chosen freeholders, or police jury), and its appointed agents and officers acting under its authority or the authority of the state laws, constitution, or county charter. These powers vary widely from state to state.<ref>Osborne M. Reynolds, Jr., ''Handbook of Local Government Law'', 2nd ed. (St. Paul, MN: West Group, 2001), 26.</ref> | |||
| Most counties have a ], usually a city, where its administrative functions are centered. | |||
| Almost all states are divided into counties or county-equivalents for administrative purposes, although not all counties or county-equivalents have an organized county government. ] and ] have completely eliminated county government, as have portions of ]. The ] in ] also does not operate under a county level government. Additionally, a number of ] and ] operate under a municipal government that serves the functions of both city and county. | |||
| In areas lacking a county government, services are provided either by lower level townships or municipalities, or the state. | |||
| == Legislative == | |||
| {{main|County commission}} | |||
| Usually, the legislative power of a county government is vested in a committee variously called a ], ], ], ], or ]. The legislative body of a county government usually consists in between 3 and 9 members elected from districts within the county, or at-large county wide. Although, in Georgia, a ] holds the legislative power as well as the executive power. The individual members of the legislative body may variously be called ], ], ], ], or ]. In Kentucky, Texas, and Arkansas the members of the county legislative body are called county judges, although they hold no judicial powers. | |||
| In the event of a vacancy, usually the governor of a state will appoint a replacement to fill out the remainder of the term, unless state law or the county charter specifies otherwise. | |||
| == Executive == | |||
| {{main|County executive}} | |||
| The chief executive officer of a county varies from county to county in the same way they vary from city to city. In a ], the executive power is vested in a ] who is an appointed professional. Alternatively, in a ], a county executive may be a ], also called a ] in some places. In Georgia, a ] holds the legislative power as well as the executive power. In Louisiana, the chair of the parish commission is the ]. | |||
| == Judicial == | |||
| A county government may or may not include a judicial branch. In some states, the judicial powers are reserved entirely by the state. Very often a county serves as a judicial district of the state, and any judges exercising jurisdiction in the county are elected or appointed from among the qualified residents of such districts. See also: ]. | |||
| == County officials and agencies == | |||
| {{original research|section|date=April 2013}} | |||
| Depending on the jurisdiction, counties may be headed by one or more elected ]s, an elected or appointed ], or an appointed ]. Among the additional officers and functions found in county governments, either as appointed or elected officials, are: | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] or county ] | |||
| * County ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * County ] or ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * Register or ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| == Variation in county government == | |||
| {{unreferenced|section|date=April 2013}} | |||
| County government exists in 48 of the 50 states. Of these remaining 48 states, 46 use the term "county" while Alaska and Louisiana use the terms "borough" and "parish", respectively, for analogous jurisdictions. The other two states (] and ]) have abolished their county governments as functional entities, and Massachusetts is in the process of doing so. | |||
| Depending on the individual state, counties or their equivalents may be administratively subdivided into ], or towns in the ] states, ], and ]. In these cases, the township is generally subordinate to the county, which is generally subordinate to the state. Michigan, since 1947, has distinguished between "townships" (not self-governing) and "]s" (self-governing). In most states, municipal corporations (i.e. cities, villages or towns) file their reports to the state through the county. ] has abolished its townships, though cities may choose to incorporate as "Town of" rather than "City of." | |||
| === Connecticut and Rhode Island === | |||
| Connecticut abolished its county government in 1960. County government in Rhode Island was abolished in 1842. | |||
| === Louisiana === | |||
| ] has entities equivalent to counties called '']''. | |||
| === Alaska === | |||
| ] is divided into '']'', which typically provide fewer local services than do most U.S. counties, as the state government furnishes many services directly. Some of Alaska's boroughs have merged geographical boundaries and administrative functions with their principal (and sometimes only) cities; these are known as ''unified city-boroughs'' and result in some of Alaska's cities ranking among the geographically largest "cities" in the world. Gevertheless, Alaska considers such entities to be boroughs, not cities. Alaska is also unique in that more than half the geographic area of the state is in the "]", a legal entity in which the state also functions as the local government. | |||
| === New York === | |||
| {{main|Administrative divisions of New York}} | |||
| ] has a unique system where 57 of its 62 counties are independently-operated administrative divisions of the state, with normal county executive powers; while the remaining five are administrative divisions of the ]. These five are each called ''borough'' in context of City government – Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island (formerly Richmond); but are still called "county" where state function is involved, e.g., "''New York County'' Courthouse", not "Manhattan". The county names correlate to the borough names as follows: ] = ], ] = ], ] = ], ] = ], and ] = ]. | |||
| ===Virginia=== | |||
| {{main|political subdivisions of Virginia}} | |||
| In ] the term "city" implies "]." There are 39 of these in the Commonwealth, which report directly to the commonwealth government whether or not they also function as a county seat. Other cities in Virginia, even ones large enough to be considered cities in other states, are not considered cities by the Commonwealth. They're called "towns" and are part of the county in which they are situated. | |||
| == Consolidated city-counties == | |||
| {{main|Consolidated city–county}} | |||
| In several instances, a municipality has merged with a county into one jurisdiction so the county seat is coextensive with the county. This is the case in the ], and in the ]. A similar arrangement is found in Tennessee's ], which consolidated the governments of city of ] and ], although a few municipalities still exist with some governmental functions. ], is an example of the merger of some functionality, resulting in a two-tier arrangement of governmental authority and administrative responsibility. ] is coextensive with five counties or boroughs: the Bronx (which is Bronx County), Brooklyn (Kings County), Manhattan (New York County), Queens (Queens County), and Staten Island (Richmond County). | |||
| == See also == | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==References == | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 15:18, 29 April 2013
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