# Board of supervisors > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Board_of_supervisors > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Board_of_supervisors.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_supervisors > Source revision: 1337880644 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Body which oversees the operation of county governments in certain US states This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Board of supervisors" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) A **board of supervisors** is a governmental body that oversees the operation of [county](/source/County_(United_States)) government in the [U.S. states](/source/U.S._states) of [Arizona](/source/Arizona), [California](/source/California), [Iowa](/source/Iowa), [Mississippi](/source/Mississippi), [Virginia](/source/Virginia), and [Wisconsin](/source/Wisconsin), as well as 16 counties in [New York](/source/New_York_(state)). There are equivalent agencies in other states.[1] Similar to a [city council](/source/City_council), a board of supervisors has [legislative](/source/Legislature), [executive](/source/Executive_(government)), and [quasi-judicial](/source/Quasi-judicial) powers. The important difference is that a county is an administrative division of a state, whereas a city is a [municipal corporation](/source/Municipal_corporation); thus, counties implement and, as necessary, refine the [local application](/source/Local_ordinance) of [state law](/source/State_law_(United_States)) and [public policy](/source/Public_policy_of_the_United_States), while cities produce and implement their own local laws and public policy (subject to the overriding authority of state law).[2] Often they are concerned with the provision of [courts](/source/County_court#United_States), jails, public health and [public lands](/source/Public_land). ## Legislative powers Boards may pass and repeal laws, generally called *[ordinances](/source/Local_ordinance)*. Depending on the state, and the subject matter of the law, these laws may apply to the entire county or to only [unincorporated areas](/source/Unincorporated_area) not located within the jurisdiction of a city. The board is also responsible for approving the county budget. County governments may collect state taxes and, in some states, they may also levy taxes, such as property or sales tax. In some states, including [Michigan](/source/Michigan), and in some [New York](/source/New_York_(state)) counties until recently, county governing boards were composed of township (Michigan) or town (New York) "supervisors". These are the chief elected officials of each civil township. Boards of Supervisors were originally composed of the various town/township supervisors from across the county. This system gave every township one vote on the county board regardless of its population, resulting in less populous townships having influence in decision-making that was disproportionate to their populations. Both Michigan and New York changed how they elected county boards by dividing counties into single member districts, drawn so that each district has more or less the same sized population or with each township's vote weighted by population, under order from the [Warren Court](/source/Warren_Court) (see *[Reynolds v. Sims](/source/Reynolds_v._Sims)*). In Michigan, the new board model was implemented in 1968. The name "Board of Supervisors" was changed to "Board of Commissioners" in 1970 to avoid confusion with township government (where the term "Supervisor" was still used). In New York, the new boards were called "county legislatures" (and their members, "county legislators"), but not every county has adopted this system. Those that retained the old boards of supervisors after the 1960s assigned each member a proportional vote based on the population represented. ## Executive powers Boards oversee county departments. Generally, this is done under the aegis of a [county administrator](/source/County_administrator) or [county executive](/source/County_executive). The power of the executive to act independently depends on the county charter. The administrator or executive usually has the authority over the day-to-day operations of the county's departments. Many boards independently appoint department heads, while other boards delegate that authority to the administrator or executive. Some department heads, like the [sheriff](/source/Sheriff) or [district attorney](/source/District_attorney), may be elected separately by the electorate; however, the board still controls these departments' budgets. In the [City and County of San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco), a [consolidated city-county](/source/Consolidated_city-county) government, the Board of Supervisors does dual duty as a county board of control and a city council, and the [mayor](/source/Mayor) is simultaneously city head of government and county executive. ## Quasi-judicial powers In some states, the board is the final arbiter of decisions made by commissions underneath a board. This often involves [land use planning](/source/Land_use_planning) issues. ## Other states In some states the equivalent body to a Board of Supervisors is called the *[county council](/source/County_council)* or *[county commission](/source/County_commission)*. For [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana) [parishes](/source/Municipal_parish), the equivalent body is a *[Police Jury](/source/Police_Jury)*, while in [Kentucky](/source/Kentucky) the equivalent is called the [Fiscal Court](/source/Fiscal_Court). In [Nebraska](/source/Nebraska), some counties are governed by a board of supervisors while others 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. In [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania), "Board of Supervisors" is the name of the body governing [townships](/source/Township) of the second class that have not adopted a home rule charter. By default, a Pennsylvania township board of supervisors consists of three members, elected at large in odd-numbered years to staggered six-year terms. Voters of a township of the second class can vote to expand the board to five members. By contrast, townships of the first class elect a Board of Commissioners, either consisting of 5 at large members in townships without wards, or choosing one member from each ward (15 being the maximum number of wards permitted). ## See also ### General - [Board of Selectmen](/source/Board_of_Selectmen) (New England) ### Individual county boards #### Arizona - [Apache County](/source/Apache_County) - [Cochise County](/source/Cochise_County) - [Coconino County](/source/Coconino_County) - [Gila County](/source/Gila_County) - [Graham County](/source/Graham_County%2C_Arizona) - [Greenlee County](/source/Greenlee_County) - [La Paz County](/source/La_Paz_County) - [Maricopa](/source/Maricopa_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Mohave County](/source/Mohave_County) - [Navajo County](/source/Navajo_County) - [Pima County](/source/Pima_County) - [Pinal County](/source/Pinal_County) - [Santa Cruz County](/source/Santa_Cruz_County%2C_Arizona) - [Yavapai County](/source/Yavapai_County) - [Yuma County](/source/Yuma_County%2C_Arizona) #### California - [Alameda](/source/Alameda_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Butte](/source/Butte_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Contra Costa](/source/Contra_Costa_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [El Dorado](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=El_Dorado_County_Board_of_Supervisors&action=edit&redlink=1) - [Fresno](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fresno_County_Board_of_Supervisors&action=edit&redlink=1) - [Imperial](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imperial_County_Board_of_Supervisors&action=edit&redlink=1) - [Kern](/source/Kern_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Marin](/source/Marin_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Merced](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Merced_County_Board_of_Superviors&action=edit&redlink=1) - [Monterey](/source/Monterey_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Nevada](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nevada_County_Board_of_Supervisors&action=edit&redlink=1) - [Orange](/source/Orange_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Plumas](/source/Plumas_County%2C_California)[3] - [Riverside](/source/Riverside_County%2C_California)[4] - [Sacramento](/source/Sacramento_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [San Bernardino](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=San_Bernardino_County_Board_of_Supervisors&action=edit&redlink=1) - [San Diego](/source/San_Diego_Board_of_Supervisors) - [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco_Board_of_Supervisors) - [San Joaquin](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=San_Joaquin_County_Board_of_Supervisors&action=edit&redlink=1) - [San Luis Obispo](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=San_Luis_Obispo_County_Board_of_Supervisors&action=edit&redlink=1) - [San Mateo](/source/San_Mateo_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Santa Clara](/source/Santa_Clara_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Santa Cruz](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Cruz_County_Board_of_Supervisors&action=edit&redlink=1) - [Sonoma](/source/Sonoma_County_Board_of_Supervisors)[5] - [Stanislaus](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stanislaus_County_Board_of_Supervisors&action=edit&redlink=1) - [Ventura](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ventura_County_Board_of_Supervisors&action=edit&redlink=1) #### Virginia - [Albemarle](/source/Albemarle_County_Board_of_Supervisors#Government) - [Arlington](/source/Arlington_County%2C_Virginia#Government_and_politics) - [Chesterfield](/source/Chesterfield_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Fairfax](/source/Fairfax_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Fauquier](/source/Fauquier_County%2C_Virginia) - [Loudoun](/source/Loudoun_County_Board_of_Supervisors) - [Prince William](/source/Prince_William_Board_of_County_Supervisors) #### Wisconsin - [Milwaukee](/source/Milwaukee_County_Board_of_Supervisors) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors > Home"](https://bos.lacounty.gov/). *bos.lacounty.gov*. Retrieved 7 April 2018. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["County Structure & Powers - California State Association of Counties"](http://www.counties.org/general-information/county-structure-0). *counties.org*. Retrieved 7 April 2018. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Board of Supervisors"](https://www.plumascounty.us/index.aspx?nid=98). *www.plumascounty.us*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Board of Supervisors"](http://countyofriverside.us/aboutthecounty/boardofsupervisors.aspx). *countyofriverside.us*. Retrieved 7 April 2018. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Board of Supervisors"](https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Board-of-Supervisors/). *sonomacounty.ca.gov*. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Board of supervisors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_supervisors) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_supervisors?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.