Political subdivisions of Virginia

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The political subdivisions of Virginia are the areas into which the U.S. state of Virginia is divided for political and administrative purposes. Some are local governments; others are not.

According to the 2002 Census of Governments, Virginia ranked 43rd among the 50 states in the number of local governments, with 521 as of June 2002.^[1]

Contents 1 Cities 2 Counties 3 Towns 4 School divisions 5 Special districts 6 Other political subdivisions 6.1 Magisterial districts, election districts, and wards 6.2 Boroughs 6.3 Potential political subdivisions 7 References

[edit] Cities

Main article: List of cities in Virginia

The organization of cities is the most noteworthy aspect of Virginia local government relative to the other 49 states. Of the 42 independent cities in the United States^[2], 39 are in Virginia. The three that are not in Virginia are Baltimore, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri and Carson City, Nevada.

In Virginia, all municipalities incorporated as "cities" have also been "independent cities" since 1871. Cities in Virginia are thus similar to unitary authorities in some countries. Other municipalities, even though they may be more populous than some existing independent cities, are incorporated as "towns", and as such form part of a county. An independent city in Virginia may serve as the county seat of an adjacent county, even though the city by definition is not part of that county. An example is Fairfax, which is an independent city as well as the county seat of Fairfax County.

The United States Census Bureau treats all cities in Virginia as county-equivalents.

Cities have been formed in the following ways:

• An area within a county, which may or may not have been a town previously, incorporates as a city and thus becomes independent. An example is Falls Church, which separated from Fairfax County.
• A county is converted into a city. An example was the former city of Nansemond.
• Various local governments consolidate to form a city. An example is Chesapeake, which resulted from the consolidation of the former city of South Norfolk with the former county of Norfolk.

[edit] Counties

Main article: List of counties in Virginia

Virginia has 95 counties, covering all of the territory not within the independent cities. Their populations vary widely; 2004 population estimates ranged from 2,482 for Highland County to 1,003,157 for Fairfax County.^[3]

Since Virginia has no civil townships, and since towns cover such a small area of the state, the county is the de facto municipal government for much of the state, from rural areas to densely populated unincorporated areas such as Tysons Corner. In fact, Arlington County, while entirely urbanized, has no towns at all; the county is the only general-purpose local government and is thus also similar to a unitary authority.

[edit] Towns

Main article: List of towns in Virginia

Unlike Virginia's cities, and like municipalities in most other states, towns are municipalities that are within counties. Local government is thus divided between the town and the county.

[edit] School divisions

Main article: School division

A school division is the area under a jurisdiction of a school board. Unlike school districts in most other states, Virginia's school divisions are not separate units of local government, but are instead dependent for funding on their associated city, town, or county governments.

[edit] Special districts

While special districts exist in Virginia, they are less important than in other states. As of June 2002, Virginia had 196 special-district governments. It also included numerous special agencies, areas, and districts that were subordinate to the state or to a county, city, or town government. While the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority serves Virginia, the Census Bureau counts it as as District of Columbia special district for statistical purposes.

[edit] Other political subdivisions

[edit] Magisterial districts, election districts, and wards

Magisterial districts, election districts, and wards are minor civil divisions established for elections, adminstrative functions, or both. They are not separate units of local government.

[edit] Boroughs

Under Code of Virginia § 15.2-3534,^[4] when multiple local governments consolidate to form a consolidated city, the consolidated city may be divided into geographical subdivisions called boroughs, which may be the same as the existing (i) cities, (ii) counties, or (iii) portions of such counties. Those boroughs are not separate local governments. For example, Chesapeake is divided into six boroughs, one corresponding to the former city of South Norfolk and one corresponding to each of the five magisterial districts of the former Norfolk County.^[5] Suffolk is divided into seven boroughs, one corresponding to the former city of Suffolk and one corresponding to each of the six magisterial districts of the former Nansemond County.^[6] In Virginia Beach, the seven boroughs were abolished effective July 1, 1998.^[7]

[edit] Potential political subdivisions

State statute provides that when multiple local governments consolidate, existing political subdivisions may continue in existence as townships (not to be confused with civil townships in those states that have them), tier-cities, or shires. However, none have yet been created.

[edit] References