County board of supervisors
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin. In other states it may be called the County Council or County Commission. In Nebraska, some counties are governed by a board of supervisors while other counties are governed by a county commission. In New York, counties are governed by a county legislature, a board of representatives, or a board of supervisors. Similar to a city council, a board of supervisors has legislative, executive, and quasi-judicial powers.
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[edit] Legislative powers
Under a board's legislative powers, the supervisors have the ability to pass and repeal laws, generally called ordinances, as so called in cities. Depending on the state, and the subject matter of the law, these laws may apply to the entire county or only to unincorporated areas not under jurisdiction by a city. In addition, a board approves the county's budget, and may set tax rates or approve land use plans.
In some states, including Michigan until 1968, or in some New York counties until recently, most county territory is divided into townships or towns, each one with a chief elected official titled "supervisor". The officeholder would have administrative authority in a township, while serving as that township's representative on the county board of supervisors. However, this system gave every township exactly one vote on the board of supervisors regardless of population, which meant small (usually rural) townships had disproportionate clout in county decision making. Cities also had elected or appointed supervisors on the county boards, but these generally didn't have administrative roles comparable to township supervisors.
Both Michigan and New York changed to single member districts for electing county boards, replacing the former board of supervisors. In Michigan, every county divided itself into equal population districts in 1968 to elect what were at first called "county supervisors", but (because of the confusion with the now separate township supervisors) were retitled as "county commissioners" in 1970. In New York, the new board members were called "county legislators" (and the body, the "county legislature"), but not every county has adopted this system. Those which retained the old boards of supervisors after the 1960s assigned each member a fractional vote based on the population represented.
[edit] Executive powers
Under a board's executive powers, the board controls county departments. Generally this is done under the aegis of a chief administrative officer or county executive. The power of the CAO or county executive to act independently depends on the composition of the board. Generally, like most city managers, the CAO or county executive has authority over the day to day operations of the county's departments. Many boards independently appoint department heads, while other boards may delegate that authority to the CAO or chief executive. Some department heads, like the sheriff or district attorney, may be elected separately by the electorate; however, the board still exerts some power over these department's budget. Despite the presence of a CAO or chief executive, it is not uncommon for an individual supervisor to meddle in the affairs of individual departments, like setting priorities for projects in one's district or independently requesting investigations of problems in a department. In some counties, the county executive is elected. In San Francisco, the county executive is called the mayor and has the same powers as any strong-city mayor.
[edit] Quasi-judicial powers
Under a board's quasi-judicial capacity, the board is the final arbiter of decisions made by commissions underneath a board. This generally involves land use planning issues.
