The circuit card of commissioners is the oldest form of county government in America and is still very common . In colonial time , it was particularly prevalent in the South , which was less denselypopulatedthan the Northern colony , and it spread across much of the rest of the rural area as the nation grew . These days , it is visualize less in New England , where local government is usually administered at the town or urban center level . Connecticut , Rhode Island and component part of Massachusetts have no county governments at all [ beginning : Kemp ] .
In a county direction form of governing , a body of elected commissioner serves both the executive and the legislative duties , mean they ordain local ordinances and parcel out them . They sanction budget , oversee spending and hire county employees . The commission usually consists of three to five functionary . In some states , they are get it on as supervisor . In New Jersey , they ’re call " choose freeholders . " And in Louisiana , they ’re often known as " parish police juror " [ source : Kemp ] .
The commissioner are creditworthy to the voter , but their duties are limit and controlled by the nation constitution and State Department statutes . Their actions can be overturned by state courts . Some department heads , such as sheriff , shop assistant , financial officer and coroner , are elect rather than appoint by the commissioners [ source : Kemp ] .
When many county were still rural , the responsibility of the board of commissioners were limited . They kept life-sustaining records , assessed property , administrate elections and maintained road . With the spread of suburbs , many counties get in population and began offering a far wider ambit of services . It is not strange today for a board of commissioners to oversee consumer protection , economic ontogeny , preparation , environmental quality and social welfare program [ source : Kemp ] .
Other obligation that the board of commissioners may be responsible for or oversee include :
In recent decade , regime reform movements have criticized the commission form of county government for not have a undivided chief executive in direction . Some counties have moved to one of two related forms of government in an effort to work the take [ source : League of Women Voters ] :
Today , more than 40 percent of county have adopted one of these alternative form [ beginning : Kemp ] . In some states , such as Tennessee , state law requires that county be led by an elect executive [ root : Kemp ] . Many others , however , have continued to use the traditional county commission form of regime .
Read on for more information about local governing and elected functionary .
