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Chapter 10
County Government
O
ur state is divided into 67 counties.
As a citizen, you live in the country
of theUnited States of America. You
also live in the state of Pennsylvania. Each
of you lives in a
county
. A county is an
area of land that is larger than a city, with
the exception of Philadelphia. Each county
has human-made boundary lines. In our
history,wedidnot alwayshave67 counties.
As our state became populatedwith settlers,
new counties were created.
County government is the highest form
of local government. The head of county
government is located in a place called the
county seat
. That is the place fromwhich
the county government is run.
Citizensof each county elect threepeople
called
commissioners
to run the county
government. Their term of office is four
years. County commissioners see that the
county roads and bridges are kept in good
shape. They also see that fair elections are
held. They are in charge of deciding how
much each home owner will pay in taxes
for their property. Can you locate the
county inwhichyou live?Doyouknow the
city or town that is your county seat?
There are state police who work to keep
law and order at the county level too.
Likewise, there is a court system at the
county level. Judges also handle cases at
this level. If a case involves a crime, a jury
of 12 people decides whether someone or
somegroup is innocent or guilty.Most cases
never go beyond the county level.
Philadelphia and Pittsburghhave their own
court systems because of their large
populations.
Besides county government, there are
three other kinds of local government.
Communities are also organized into cities,
boroughs
, or
townships
. In the state of
Pennsylvania, each of us lives in a city,
borough, or township. How canwe tell the
difference among the three terms?
City, Borough, and
Township Governments
B
y state law, any place can become a
city if 10,000 residents livewithin its
boundaries. Our state has 56 cities.
If you do not live in a city, it is possible
you live in a borough. A borough is a
community smaller than a city. It has fewer
than 10,000 residents. Our state has 958
boroughs. However, there are many
communities in our state with populations
greater than 10,000 in which the people
have decided to remain a borough.
If you do not live in a city or a borough,
then you live in a township. Townships are
themore rural regions that border cities and
boroughs. You should see a sign that tells you
the name of the city, borough, or township.
There are 1,547 townships in our state.
Cities, boroughs, and townships have their
own forms of local government. Most cities
and boroughs in Pennsylvania are organized
Jody Shoemaker
