THE COUNTY AS A SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE

Another important factor in county government is the control exercised over it by the state.  The county is not only a local self-governing unit, but it is also a division of the state for the administration of state laws.  Its powers of self-government are given to it by the state, and along with these powers it has imposed upon it certain duties for the state.  First of all, the county is a state judicial district.  The most important building at the county seat is the courthouse.  The county court is one of the state courts described in the next chapter.  The county judge is sometimes chosen by the people of the county, but he is really a state officer.  In New England the county is almost solely a judicial district, and in all states its judicial purposes are of supreme importance.

But more than this, the county schools are a part of the state school system and must be administered in accordance with state laws, though by county and township officers.  County officers must enforce the health laws of the state.  County authorities not only levy and collect county taxes, but also collect state taxes from residents of the county.

THE NECESSITY FOR STATE CONTROL

Here again we have an illustration of the necessity for a careful balance between matters properly subject to local self-government and those properly subject to state control.  Counties have suffered both from too much state control in some respects, and from too little in others.

The whole state is injured ... if one township lets its citizenship deteriorate through ignorance or drunkenness, and so the state has a right to say that at least six months school term must be given in every township and that no whiskey-selling shall be permitted.  Or if one township is infested with cattle ticks, other townships are injured, and so the state may set a minimum standard here ...

It often happens that the citizens of one county pay more than their share of the state taxes because it has better methods of assessing and collecting taxes and of keeping accounts than other counties in the state.  One of the greatest needs of counties, and one least provided for, is uniformity among the counties of a state in methods of keeping accounts (see example on page 410).  Some states have established state systems of auditing county finances.

“Home rule” For counties