Chapter: State and local government

Local governments vary tremendously across the country, because each state has developed its own system of local authority. Most states are divided into counties, although in Louisiana the parallel unit of government is called a ‘parish’ and in Alaska a ‘borough’. Counties also vary greatly in population, size and function. Still, most counties share several general responsibilities. They are usually the main units of government in rural areas. Counties rarely have any lawmaking power, but instead act as agents of the state. They serve as administrative units that carry out some state-wide programs in local areas, such as keeping records and issuing different kinds of licenses. All the powers of local government are really powers of the state. The state just delegates the work of providing local facilities and services to smaller units of government. Thus the states often set general standards and guidelines, but ask counties to carry out the functions that are delegated. Typically, these functions include providing local transportation systems, schools, fire and police protection, water and sanitation systems and medical programs and buildings. Counties also collect the local property taxes to pay for these services. County government usually consists of a board of somewhere between three and twelve members, a county court and the chief officers of county departments. Board members, or commissioners as they are often called in more populous counties, are elected and serve on a part-time basis. Their powers usually include deciding how local taxes should be raised and spent for county programs, as well as the authority to establish zoning codes that regulate the purpose for which land may be used. The boards have no influence over the county court, but their power of the purse and zoning gives them significant control over local department heads. The county superintendent of schools, for example, must have the board's support to raise more money for local schools or to have a site for a new school approved. Other administrative officers commonly found in a county include the county sheriff, the medical examiner or coroner, commissioner of health, the recorder or registrar of property deeds and the clerk (who issues licenses and keeps population records). Because they carry out state law on a daily basis, all these officers of county government usually determine what the law means in practice for most residents. In built-up, heavily populated areas, the states have usually created substitutes for county government. In urban areas, most tasks that used to be performed by counties have been taken over by municipal governments: cities, towns, villages, boroughs or special districts. The meaning of these common terms varies widely, according to the legal definitions established by each state.