Board of supervisors

{{Short description|Body which oversees the operation of county governments in certain US states}} {{Refimprove|date=January 2011}}

A '''board of supervisors''' is a governmental body that oversees the operation of [[county (United States)|county]] government in the [[U.S. states]] of [[Arizona]], [[California]], [[Iowa]], [[Mississippi]], [[Virginia]], and [[Wisconsin]], as well as 16 counties in [[New York (state)|New York]]. There are equivalent agencies in other states.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bos.lacounty.gov/|title=County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors > Home|website=bos.lacounty.gov|access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref>

Similar to a [[city council]], a board of supervisors has [[Legislature|legislative]], [[Executive (government)|executive]], and [[quasi-judicial]] powers. The important difference is that a county is an administrative division of a state, whereas a city is a [[municipal corporation]]; thus, counties implement and, as necessary, refine the [[Local ordinance|local application]] of [[State law (United States)|state law]] and [[Public policy of the United States|public policy]], while cities produce and implement their own local laws and public policy (subject to the overriding authority of state law).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.counties.org/general-information/county-structure-0|title=County Structure & Powers - California State Association of Counties|website=counties.org|access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref> Often they are concerned with the provision of [[County court#United_States|courts]], jails, public health and [[public land]]s.

==Legislative powers==

Boards may pass and repeal laws, generally called ''[[Local ordinance|ordinance]]s''. Depending on the state, and the subject matter of the law, these laws may apply to the entire county or to only [[unincorporated area]]s 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]], and in some [[New York (state)|New York]] 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]] (see ''[[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]] or [[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]] or [[district attorney]], may be elected separately by the electorate; however, the board still controls these departments' budgets.

In the [[San Francisco|City and County of San Francisco]], a [[consolidated city-county]] government, the Board of Supervisors does dual duty as a county board of control and a city council, and the [[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]] issues.

==Other states==

In some states the equivalent body to a Board of Supervisors is called the ''[[county council]]'' or ''[[county commission]]''. For [[Louisiana]] [[municipal parish|parishes]], the equivalent body is a ''[[Police Jury]]'', while in [[Kentucky]] the equivalent is called the [[Fiscal Court]]. In [[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]], "Board of Supervisors" is the name of the body governing [[township]]s 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]] (New England)

===Individual county boards===

====Arizona==== {{div col|colwidth=22em}} *[[Apache County]] *[[Cochise County]] *[[Coconino County ]] *[[Gila County]] *[[Graham County, Arizona|Graham County]] *[[Greenlee County ]] *[[La Paz County ]] *[[Maricopa County Board of Supervisors|Maricopa]] *[[Mohave County]] *[[Navajo County]] *[[Pima County]] *[[Pinal County]] *[[Santa Cruz County, Arizona|Santa Cruz County]] *[[Yavapai County]] *[[Yuma County, Arizona|Yuma County]] {{div col end}}

====California====

{{div col|colwidth=22em}} * [[Alameda County Board of Supervisors|Alameda]] * [[Butte County Board of Supervisors|Butte]] * [[Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors|Contra Costa]] * [[El Dorado County Board of Supervisors|El Dorado]] * [[Fresno County Board of Supervisors|Fresno]] * [[Imperial County Board of Supervisors|Imperial]] * [[Kern County Board of Supervisors|Kern]] * [[Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors|Los Angeles]] * [[Marin County Board of Supervisors|Marin]] * [[Merced County Board of Superviors|Merced]] * [[Monterey County Board of Supervisors|Monterey]] * [[Nevada County Board of Supervisors|Nevada]] * [[Orange County Board of Supervisors|Orange]] * [[Plumas County, California|Plumas]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.plumascounty.us/index.aspx?nid=98|title=Board of Supervisors|website=www.plumascounty.us}}</ref> * [[Riverside County, California|Riverside]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countyofriverside.us/aboutthecounty/boardofsupervisors.aspx|title=Board of Supervisors|website=countyofriverside.us|access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref> * [[Sacramento County Board of Supervisors|Sacramento]] * [[San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors|San Bernardino]] * [[San Diego Board of Supervisors|San Diego]] * [[San Francisco Board of Supervisors|San Francisco]] * [[San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors|San Joaquin]] * [[San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors|San Luis Obispo]] * [[San Mateo County Board of Supervisors|San Mateo]] * [[Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors|Santa Clara]] * [[Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors|Santa Cruz]] * [[Sonoma County Board of Supervisors|Sonoma]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Board-of-Supervisors/|title=Board of Supervisors|website=sonomacounty.ca.gov}}</ref> * [[Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors|Stanislaus]] * [[Ventura County Board of Supervisors|Ventura]]

====Virginia====

{{div col|colwidth=22em}} * [[Albemarle County Board of Supervisors#Government|Albemarle]] * [[Arlington County, Virginia#Government and politics|Arlington]] * [[Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors|Chesterfield]] * [[Fairfax County Board of Supervisors|Fairfax]] *[[Fauquier County, Virginia|Fauquier]] * [[Loudoun County Board of Supervisors|Loudoun]] * [[Prince William Board of County Supervisors|Prince William]]{{div col end}}

====Wisconsin====

{{div col|colwidth=22em}} * [[Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors|Milwaukee]] {{div col end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Committees]] [[Category:County governing bodies in the United States]] [[Category:Legislatures]]