unit of local government. Cities and villages were also established in all of the states, organized for the most part under special charters, reflected the same ideas as were affecting county government. For local school administration small school districts were formed, which marks the development of specialized local districts and a further step in decentralization. These developments in local government in other districts than counties were for the most part made by statutory legislation; but in some states the township system was authorized by constitutional provisions.

Since the Civil War there have been important changes in local government, superimposing new elements on the former machinery, and resulting in such a complexity that it is difficult to recognize any clearly defined system. The organization of counties has been extended throughout the country; and the scope of county administration has greatly increased in amount and relative importance; but except for a few recent experiments, there has been no important changes in the general plan of county government. On the other hand, the general system of town or township government has not extended to the newer states beyond the arid plains; while in the older states outside of New England the town has declined in importance.

Cities and villages have multiplied and increased enormously; and the most important developments in local government have been in connection with these urban municipalities. More highly centralized governments have been established, such as the mayor plan, the commission form, and the city manager plan. Another development in recent years has been a marked increase in the number of special local districts and the appearance of many new types of such districts.

Constitutional provisions on local government have dealt for the most part with counties and county officers, prohibitions on special legislation for particular municipalities, and restrictions on municipal debts. Beginning with Missouri in 1875, thirteen states have adopted constitutional provisions for municipal home rule, and two states have provisions for county home rule. In other respects most of the later developments in local government have been by legislation.

Another tendency of the later period in statutory legislation has been the development of state administrative supervision over local authorities, in such matters as taxation and finance, school administration, public charities, public health and public utilities.

Constitutional provisions. There is a good deal of variation in the extent and character of constitutional provisions relating to local government in the different states. In the New England states and a number of others (mainly those where there has been no general revision of the state constitution since 1860 as Iowa, Oregon and Wisconsin), there are few provisions on local government, and these are in scattered sections of the constitutions. But in about two-thirds of the state constitutions there is an article (and in some states two or three articles) on such subjects as Counties, Counties and Town

ships, and Municipal Corporations. In several states (Missouri, Utah, and Washington) there is an article on Counties, Cities and Towns; and the Michigan constitution of 1908 has one article with the more comprehensive title of Local Government. But in most of these states, in addition to such articles, there are other provisions on local government in the articles on the legislative department, judicial department, and taxation or finance. The most detailed provisions are in the constitutions of California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Washington.

Most common are provisions relating to county officers, and restrictions on the formation of counties, on special legislation, and on municipal debts. Municipal home rule provisions in a number of states are in considerable detail. In some cases there are detailed provisions for particular communities, such as those relating to Baltimore in the Maryland constitution, and to St. Louis in the Missouri constitution.

General characteristics of counties. Counties are usually established as bodies "politic and corporate"; and by these terms it is indicated that they are at the same time districts for purposes of state administration and also for certain local purposes. Their functions as state agents are considered the more important; and in a number of states they are still considered as quasi corporations, and not municipal corporations in the full sense, as in Illinois.

Usually the state legislature has power to establish counties; and in the North Atlantic group of states and some others there are no constitutional limitations on this power. But the constitutions of most states now impose various restrictions. Most frequently new counties can only be formed with the consent of the voters; and there is a minimum area—most commonly about 400 square miles, but ranging from 275 square miles in Tennessee to 24 congressional townships (about 860 square miles) in North Dakota and 900 square miles in Texas. About a third of the states also require a minimum population, varying from 1,000 in North Dakota to 10,000 in Ohio. Several states authorize cities with more than a certain population (20,000 in Minnesota, 100,000 in Michigan, and Missouri) to be organized as counties, without regard to the minimum area.

About a third of the states require a local referendum for changes in county lines; and about the same number require a local referendum for a change in the county seat, many requiring a three-fifths or twothirds vote for this purpose. About a third of the state constitutions provide that where part of one county is transferred to another, there must be a pro-rata adjustment of debts.

In most states new counties, or changes in county lines, are now seldom made; but in a few of the newer states the creation of new counties and readjustments of boundaries are still not infrequent.

Most of the larger states have from 60 to 100 counties. Delaware has only three counties and Rhode Island five, while Texas has 245.

In area and population there are wide variations. Most counties have from 400 to 650 square miles. In population most counties have between 10,000 and 30,000; but in the North Atlantic states more than half the counties have over 50,000 population, and there are comparatively few counties in other populous states as small as a considerable number of those in Illinois.

According to the traditional treatment of local government in the United States, county government has been considered of most importance in the Southern states, and of least importance in New England. But by the quantitative standard of per capita expenditure, the county is now of greatest importance in the far west; and next to these comes the Middle Atlantic and North Central States, where the largest aggregate county expenditures are made. In the Southern and New England states county expenditures are of less importance.

County government. About two-thirds of the state constitutions have definite provisions for the election of a list of county officers, with further provisions as to qualifications, term, and compensation; but other officers may also be established in these states by law. In a few states (Ohio, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming) there is a general provision authorizing the legislature to provide for the election of county officers; while in other states (mostly in New England and the South), the legislature exercises this power without express provision in the constitution.

But whether regulated by the constitution or by statute, no definite principle seems to have been followed in the organization of county. government, except that of popular election. There is no clearly defined chief officer of the county, corresponding to the governor of the state or mayor of a city. Nor is there any body with important powers of local legislation, corresponding to the state legislature or city council. The county officers form a loose aggregation, with no effective responsibility or control.

In all but two states (Georgia and Rhode Island) there is an elective county board in each county, which usually levies county taxes and has supervision over certain matters of local administration, but with little control over the other elective county officers. In about two-thirds of the states these county boards are small bodies, usually of three members, elected at large and called county commissioners; but in some states with small boards the number may be as many as five, and in Iowa and California the maximum is seven and in Virginia eight; and in some of these cases the members are elected by districts and the boards are called boards of supervisors. In other states the county boards are larger (usually from 15 to 50 members) elected by by townships or districts. Boards of supervisors of this type are provided in provided in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Wisconsin; and the police juries in Louisiana and county courts in Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas have a similar organization. In a few states, as in Illinois and

Missouri, there is an option between the small board of county commissioners and the larger board of supervisors. There is, however, little difference in the powers of the two types of county boards; and the larger bodies are more unwieldy for administrative business. It may be noted that the small county boards are found in many of the states with town or township government, as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana; as well as in the Southern and far Western states.

In a few states the powers of making appropriations and levying taxes have been placed in a body distinct from the county administrative board. Thus in Indiana, there was established (1899) for each county a county council of seven members for these purposes, in addition to the board of three county commissioners; and similar results have been secured in other ways in some of the smaller New England states.

A few states have taken some steps toward developing a chief executive for the county. In some New Jersey counties the chairman of the county board has special powers, similar to those of the president of the Cook County board of commissioners in Illinois. In Alabama the probate judge is ex-officio chairman of the county board, and exercises a larger influence than the other members. In Georgia, where there is no county board, the ordinary acts as probate judge and administrative officer, aided in some matters by the grand jury.

Rhode Island has only two county officers, the sheriff and clerk of court, both appointed by the legislature. The other New England states have about six officers in each county. All the other states have a more numerous list of elective county officers, largely independent of each other and of the county board. Some of these are to be found in most of the states; but in the case of others there is a good deal of variation in titles and functions.

The one office found in every county is the sheriff, now elected in all the states except Rhode Island; in every county there is also a court clerk, or a county clerk, who is usually secretary of the county board with other miscellaneous duties, but in a number of states (as in Ohio and Minnesota) the county auditor has important functions elsewhere vested in the county clerk. Nearly all the states have a system of local prosecuting officers, corresponding to the state's attorney in Illinois; and in most states this is an elective county officer. But the title varies a good deal, including such terms as prosecuting attorney, district attorney, solicitor and county attorney; and in a number of states (mainly in the South, but including also Massachusetts and Oregon), these officers usually act in judicial districts larger than a county.

County treasurers are provided in nearly all the states; but in Connecticut and Vermont these officers are appointed. In most states there is a county judge or probate judge in each county: New York and New Jersey have both of these officers in every county, and in some other states there are two officials in the larger counties, as in Illinois. Most states have county recorders,

or registers of deeds, and coroners; and outside of New England there are usually county surveyors and county (or district) school commissioners. In addition to the clerk of the county court, there are frequently additional clerks for probate and circuit, district, or other courts. In the Southern states there is regularly a county assessor and tax collector; and in most of the middle Atlantic and North Central states there is a county assessing officer, or assessment functions are vested in the county clerk, treasurer, auditor, or other county officer.

In the states outside of New England there are county road commissioners or superintendents, and also poor commissioners or superintendents of the poor farm. These officers are usually appointed, but in a few states are elected. A good many states have appointed county health officers.

County officers are elected for terms varying from two to six years. In the states cast of the Mississippi river, the terms of different officers often overlap each other. In the states west of the Mississippi a uniform term of two years is usual for all county officers.

In most counties the subordinate staff of county officers is small; but in the more populous counties with large cities, the number of deputies, clerks, and other employees is larger and of more importance. In most cases these positions are held at the pleasure of their superior officers; and are often subject to political patronage. In eighteen of the larger New York counties, several New Jersey counties, and a few isolated counties in other states, the merit system of civil service has been applied to some extent.

County home rule. Until after the beginning of the present century there was little public criticism of the general methods. of county government, although not. infrequently there were serious charges and scandals in particular counties. Criticism of the fee system, which had continued from early days, led in many states to the establishment of fixed salaries for county officers; but the fee system remains in force in many places.

Since about 1910, there has been a good deal of active discussion of county government and serious efforts have been made. to secure important changes, notably in New York, New Jersey, California, and Ohio. But constitutional provisions requiring uniform legislation and prescribing a detailed list of elective county officers have prevented any far reaching changes, without amending the state constitution.

In California and Maryland a method of introducing new plans of county organization has been found by the recent adoption of constitutional amendments authorizing county home rule charters. Before this, in a few states where municipal home rule charters.

1 In Massachusetts and Maine coroners have been replaced by appointed medical examiners.