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A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise three to five members.
What does a county board of commissioners do?
From howstuffworks.com
The board of commissioners is the oldest form of county government in America and is still very common. In colonial times, it was particularly prevalent in the South, which was less densely populated than the Northern colonies, and it spread across much of the rest of the country as the nation grew. These days, it is seen less in New England, where local government is usually administered at the town or city level. Connecticut, Rhode Island and parts of Massachusetts have no county governments at all [source: Kemp].
When many counties were still rural, the duties of the board of commissioners were limited. They kept vital records, assessed property, administered elections and maintained roads. With the spread of suburbs, many counties grew in population and began offering a far wider range of services. It is not unusual today for a board of commissioners to oversee consumer protection, economic development, planning, environmental quality and social welfare programs [source: Kemp].
Other duties that the board of commissioners may be responsible for or oversee include:
- Issuing bonds
- Managing county parks
- Collecting and disposing of trash
- Managing pensions for county employees
- Assuring water quality
- Administering courts and jails
- Collecting property and sales taxes
In recent decades, government reform movements have criticized the commission form of county government for not having a single chief executive in charge. Some counties have moved to one of two related forms of government in an effort to solve the issue [source: League of Women Voters]:
- Commission-administrator: The elected commissioners appoint a separate professional administrator who carries out policies, hires and fires employees, and prepares a budget for the commission's approval.
- Council-executive: Voters elect one person as county executive along with a council that serves as the county legislative body. In some areas, the executive can veto laws enacted by the council and exercise other executive powers.
Today, more than 40 percent of counties have adopted one of these alternative forms [source: Kemp]. In some states, such as Tennessee, state law requires that counties be led by an elected executive [source: Kemp]. Many others, however, have continued to use the traditional county commission form of government.
History
William Penn, colonial founder of Pennsylvania is credited with originating the system of County Commissioners in the United States.
On February 28, 1681, Charles II granted a charter for a proprietary colony[6] to William Penn to repay a debt of £16,000[7] (around £2,100,000 in 2008 currency, adjusting for retail inflation)[8] owed to William's father, Admiral William Penn. This was one of the largest land grants made in history, to one individual.[9]
The colony was to be called Pennsylvania. Penn established a government with two innovations that were much copied in the New World: the county commission, and freedom of religious conviction.[9]
New Jersey previously referred to county commissioners as freeholders, but its practice ended in 2021.[10][11]
By state
- Board of County Commissioners (New Jersey; formerly known as the Board of chosen freeholders)
- Board of County Commissioners (Ohio)
- Commissioners' Court (Texas and Missouri; identical concept known in Arkansas as "Quorum Court")
- Fiscal Court (Kentucky)
- Police Jury (Louisiana)
- Sole commissioner (some counties in Georgia)
See also
References
- “What does a county board of commissioners do?” < link >
- Kemp, Roger. "County Government: Past, Present, and Future." Public Management. Page 5. July 2008.
- League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade County, The. "Forms of Local Government." (accessed March 31, 2010)http://www.lwvmiamidade.org/PDF/forms_of_local_government.pdf
- Maryland Association of Counties. "Forms of County Government." (accessed March 31, 2010)http://www.mdcounties.org/counties/forms_of_government.cfm
- Police Jury Association of Louisiana. "Parish Government Structures." (accessed April 2, 2010)http://www.lpgov.org/
- “What Do County Commissioners Do All Day?” < PDF >
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_commission
- 6. Charter for the Province of Pennsylvania-1681. This charter, granted by Charles II (England) to William Penn, constituted him and his heirs as proprietors of the province, which, in honor of his father, Admiral William Penn, (whose cash advances and services were thus requited) was called Pennsylvania. To perfect his title, William Penn purchased, on 1682-08-24, a quit-claim from the Duke of York to the lands west of the Delaware River embraced in his patent of 1664