county commission
{{short description|Governing body}}
{{redirect|Board of Commissioners||Commission (disambiguation)}}
File:County Commission Texas Historical Marker Brenham.jpg in Brenham, Texas]]
A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States. A county usually has three to five members of the county commission.{{Cite web|url=https://people.howstuffworks.com/government/local-politics/county-board-of-commissioners.htm|title=What does a county board of commissioners do?|last=Kelly|first=John|date=2010-03-23|website=HowStuffWorks|language=en|access-date=2019-08-13}} In some counties within Georgia a sole commissioner holds the authority of the commission.
In parts of the United States, alternative terms such as county board of supervisors or county council may be used in lieu of, but generally synonymous to, a county commission. However, in some jurisdictions there may be distinct differences between a county commission and other similarly titled bodies. For example, a county council may differ from a county commission by containing more members or by having a council-manager form of government. In Indiana, every county, except Marion County which is consolidated with the city of Indianapolis, has both a county commission and a county council, with the county commission having administrative authority and the county council being responsible for fiscal matters.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/04/22/unravelling-local-government-county-comission-vs-county-council/83023204/|title=Unravelling local government: County commissioners vs. county council|date=2016-04-22|website=IndyStar|language=en-US|access-date=2021-08-01}}
Each commission acts as the executive of the local government, levying local taxes, administering county governmental services such as correctional institutions, courts, public health oversight, property registration, building code enforcement, and public works (e.g. road maintenance). The system has been supplanted in large part, as disparate sparsely-settled regions become urbanized and establish tighter local governmental control, usually in municipalities, though in many of the more rural states, the county commission retains more control, and even in some urbanized areas, may be responsible for significant government services.
Various counties nationwide have explored expanding from three members to five.{{Cite web|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/feb/28/senate-passes-5-county-commissioners-bill-with-twe/|title=Senate passes 5 county commissioners bill with 'tweak' {{!}} The Spokesman-Review|website=www.spokesman.com|access-date=2019-08-13}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_32045434/editorial-boulder-three-commissioners-five|title=Editorial: What's better than three commissioners? Five.|date=2018-08-01|website=Boulder Daily Camera|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-13}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamogordonews.com/story/news/local/community/2018/03/09/board-county-commissioners-turns-down-motion-increase-board-members/409211002/|title=Board of County Commissioners turns down motion to increase board from 3 members to 5|last=Devine|first=Jacqueline|date=2018-03-09|website=Alamogordo Daily News|language=en|access-date=2019-08-13}}
History
William Penn, colonial founder of Pennsylvania originated the system of county commissions in the United States.
On February 28, 1681, King Charles II of England granted a charter for a proprietary colony[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/pa01.asp Charter for the Province of Pennsylvania-1681]. This charter, granted by Charles II (England) to William Penn, constituted him and his heirs as proprietors of the province, which, in honor of his father, Admiral William Penn, (whose cash advances and services were thus requited) was called Pennsylvania. To perfect his title, William Penn purchased, on 1682-08-24, a quit-claim from the Duke of York to the lands west of the Delaware River embraced in his patent of 1664 to William Penn to repay a debt of £16,000{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4rQBAAAAMAAJ| title=Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Governors, Volume 1| editor=Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Governors| pages=180–181| year=1916| chapter=Samuel Carpenter}} (around £2,100,000 in 2008 currency, adjusting for retail inflation){{cite web |publisher=Measuring Worth |title=Measuring Worth |url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=NOMINALEARN&year_early=1681£71=16000&shilling71=&pence71=&amount=16000&year_source=1681&year_result=2008 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714064027/http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=NOMINALEARN&year_early=1681£71=16000&shilling71=&pence71=&amount=16000&year_source=1681&year_result=2008 |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |url-status=dead }} owed to William's father, Admiral William Penn. This was one of the largest land grants to one individual ever made in history.{{cite web |url=http://www.pym.org/exhibit/p078.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524050103/http://www.pym.org/exhibit/p078.html |archive-date=May 24, 2008 |title=Quakers and the political process |publisher=Pym.org |date=March 28, 2006 |access-date=July 31, 2010}} Penn established a local colonial government with two innovations that were copied by other colonies in the British America: the county commission, and freedom of religious conviction.
New Jersey previously referred to county commissioners as freeholders, but its practice ended in 2021.{{Cite web|date=2020-08-21|title='Freeholder' Title Abolished In New Jersey|url=https://patch.com/new-jersey/longvalley/freeholder-title-abolished-new-jersey|access-date=2020-08-21|website=Long Valley, NJ Patch|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Writer|first=MICHELLE BRUNETTI POST Staff|title=Murphy signs bill into law to change "freeholder" title to "commissioner"|url=https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/murphy-signs-bill-into-law-to-change-freeholder-title-to-commissioner/article_dfee2290-4c09-5a93-9c0e-6d3407cc2a7c.html|access-date=2020-08-21|website=Press of Atlantic City|date=21 August 2020 |language=en}}
By state
- Board of County Commissioners (New Jersey; formerly known as the Board of Chosen Freeholders)
- Board of County Commissioners (Ohio)
- Commissioners' Court (Texas and Missouri; identical concept known in Arkansas as "Quorum Court")
- Fiscal Court (Kentucky)
- Police Jury (Louisiana)
- Sole commissioner (some counties in Georgia)
- County Commission (Montana){{cite web | url=https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0070/chapter_0040/part_0210/sections_index.html | title=Part 21. County Commissioners - Table of Contents, Title 7, Chapter 4, MCA }}