Overview

There are 3,066 counties in the United States. Counties vary greatly in size and population. They range in area from 67 square kilometers (Arlington County, Va.) to 227,559 square kilometers (North Slope Borough, Alaska). The population of counties varies from Loving County, Texas, with 140 residents to Los Angeles County, California, which is home to 9.2 million people.

Forty-eight of the 50 states have operational county governments. Connecticut and Rhode Island are divided into geographic regions called counties, but they do not have functioning governments. Alaska calls its counties boroughs and Louisiana calls them parishes.

The election process begins and ends at the county level. County governments are empowered by state law to handle all local, state and national elections. County governments register new voters, institute primary elections, publicize Election Day procedures, mail election information to voters, select voting devices, establish polling sites and as the nation is learning, certify voting accuracy.

Types of County Government

Traditionally counties have been considered to be a subdivision of state government existing to administer state programs at a local level.

Although counties were originally designed primarily to serve rural areas, county boundaries include both urban and rural areas. Consequently county government is responsible for performing functions in all areas of the county, both urban and rural.

As an administrative branch of government, counties do not have a court system of their own. They possess no inherent legislative powers and may exercise only those delegated to them by the General Assembly.

As with Municipal Governments, there exists a wide assortment of variations of County Governments within the U.S, however, three are basically three forms of County Government is use today. They are;

Commissioners/Chairperson

Chairperson/Administrator

Elected Executive/Commission

Roughly 40% of U.S. counties utilize the Elected Executive / Commission form of government. Numbers of governing body members within U.S. County governments vary from 3 to 29, with over half of U.S. counties having either 3, 5 or 7 members.

Not all chief elected officials share the same duties in all states. Each U.S. state has regulations governing the conduct of county governments and each county maintains its government in concert with the needs of the local citizens. In fact, some states have several different styles of county government ranging from an elected county executive to an elected council (see table below). The titles conferred upon the appointed or elected leader of each county government also varies. However, there are similarities between types of county leaders in that each leader is assigned the task of effectively delivering local services to the people.

Various Titles of Chief Elected County Officials

The following is a compilation of titles for chief elected county officials and the respective national total and state breakdown for each.

You will note in the chart, some states have more than one type of County Government. For example, California recognizes two types of counties: general law counties and charter counties. General law counties adhere to state law as to the number and duties of county elected officials. Charter counties, on the other hand, have a limited degree of "home rule" authority that may provide for the election, compensation, terms, removal, and salary of the governing board; for the election or appointment (except the sheriff, district attorney, and assessor who must be elected), compensation, terms, and removal of all county officers; for the powers and duties of all officers; and for consolidation and segregation of county offices. A charter does not give county officials extra authority over local regulations, revenue-raising abilities, budgetary decisions, or intergovernmental relations.

Home rule counties are required to provide all mandatory programs, services and facilities required by state law. A home rule county is permitted to provide such "permissive" programs, services and facilities as may be authorized by state law. In this sense, home rule counties enjoy no more prerogatives than statutory counties.

Louisiana

We would be remiss not to mention the State of Louisiana, which does not have counties at all, but rather, since 1807 has had Parishes. The parish is in essence, the same as a county in the other states. Louisiana implements 2 types of Parish government. Forty-six of its 64 Parishes operate under general law providing a traditional ‘police jury’ (essentially the same as a County board of commissioners), form. The other 18 have ‘home-rule’ charters, including 4 City-Parish consolidations.

Summary

As with the variations in Municipal Governing bodies, no matter what they are called, the end result of the county government is basically the same; to serve as the executive and legislative branch of governing the county. This includes such things as providing law enforcement and fire departments for areas outside any municipality, collecting tax revenue, planning and maintaining county roads, parks, utilities and other services, maintaining birth and death records, land titles, deeds, etc.

At the heart of each form of County Government is the Commissioner’s Court. The number of Commissioners may vary, and perhaps even the title, but the duties remain relatively the same. This body conducts the general business of the county and oversees financial matters.

While elected officials administer many county functions, individuals employed by the Commissioner’s Court run others. They include such departments as public health and human services, personnel and budget, and in some counties, public transportation and emergency medical services.

 

Bibliography;

Association of Counties Large Urban Caucus (LUCC) 1998 Census Report.

Units of Local Governments in Texas (Municipal Studies No. 15, Austin: Bureau of Municipal Research, University of Texas, 1941.

California State Organization of Counties. More information available at www.csac.counties.org

County Executives of America, More information available at www.countyexecutives.org

Police Jury Association of Louisiana

National Association of Counties

Colorado Association of Counties

Copyright ©  2002 The Junto Society - All rights reserved.  Permission to reprint granted provided a link to this site [http://www.juntosociety/com] is plainly accompanying the article.

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