Local government in California
The government of California has an extensive system of local government that manages public functions throughout the state. Like most states, California is divided into counties, of which there are 58 covering the entire state. Most urbanized areas are incorporated as cities, though not all of California is within the boundaries of a city. School districts, which are independent of cities and counties, handle public education. Many other functions, especially in unincorporated areas, are handled by special districts, which include municipal utility districts, transit districts, health care districts, vector control districts, and geologic hazard abatement districts.
Due to geographical variations in property tax and sales tax revenue and differing attitudes towards priorities, there are variations in the levels of various services from one city to the next.
Article 2, Section 6, of California's constitution provides that elections for county, city, school, and judicial offices are officially non-partisan and political party affiliations are not included on local election ballots.
History
On January 4, 1850, the California constitutional committee recommended the formation of 18 counties. They were Benicia, Butte, Fremont, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Monterey, Mount Diablo, Oro, Redding, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Sutter. On April 22, the counties of Branciforte, Calaveras, Coloma, Colusi, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Trinity, and Yuba were added. Benicia was renamed Solano, Coloma to El Dorado, Fremont to Yolo, Mt. Diablo to Contra Costa, San Jose to Santa Clara, Oro to Tuolumne, and Redding to Shasta. One of the first state legislative acts regarding counties was to rename Branciforte County to Santa Cruz, Colusi to Colusa, and Yola to Yolo. The last county in California to be established is Imperial County on August 7, 1907.Since 1911, counties in California have been allowed limited home rule, with the Government of Los Angeles County the first in the nation to be granted home rule by charter in 1912. The county governments were originally molded around property recording and assessment, law enforcement, judicial administration, and tax collection, but more recently other functions have been added by the state such as public welfare, public health, water conservation, and flood protection. In 1933, county supervisors gained authority to fix salaries for all county officers other than themselves.
Counties
| County | Government |
| Alameda | Government of Alameda County |
| Contra Costa | Government of Contra Costa County |
| Fresno | Government of Fresno County |
| Los Angeles | Government of Los Angeles County |
| Orange | Government of Orange County |
| Sacramento | Government of Sacramento County |
| San Diego | Government of San Diego County |
| San Francisco | Government of San Francisco |
| San Joaquin | Government of San Joaquin County |
| Santa Clara | Government of Santa Clara County |
| Solano | Government of Solano County |
| Stanislaus | Government of Stanislaus County |
The basic political subdivision of California are the 58 counties. The county government provides countywide services such as law enforcement, jails, elections and voter registration, vital records, property assessment and records, tax collection, public health, health care, social services, libraries, flood control, fire protection, animal control, agricultural regulations, building inspections, ambulance services, and education departments in charge of maintaining statewide standards. In addition the county serves as the local government for all unincorporated areas, providing services such as police, parks, street maintenance, land use regulations, zoning, and waste disposal. Counties have taxing and police powers. Counties may promulgate ordinances which are usually codified in a county code, and violations of the ordinances are misdemeanor crimes unless otherwise specified as an infraction.
County government
Fourteen counties are "charter" counties while the rest are "general law" counties. Other than San Francisco, which is a consolidated city-county, California's counties are governed by an elected five-member Board of Supervisors, who appoint executive officers to manage the various functions of the county. All counties elect all of their supervisors by district. All counties elect their treasurers except Los Angeles, Sacramento, Santa Clara, and Glenn. Forty-seven counties have an appointed county administrative officer, while five counties have a more powerful official such as a county manager, chief executive officer, or county mayor, and five rural counties do not have a full-time county administrative officer. All counties elect their district attorneys and their sheriffs. Counties may also have an assessor, a recorder, an auditor, a controller, a treasurer, a tax collector, a county clerk, a registrar of voters, a coroner, and/or a medical examiner. Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties are the only counties that have a coroner or a medical examiner that are independent from the sheriff.County congestion management agencies or designees are responsible for comprehensive transportation improvement programs that reduces traffic congestion and transportation-related air pollution. Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties have county transportation commissions responsible for planning and coordinating transportation services and projects. Since at least 1901, California law has required all counties to provide relief to the poor.
County courts
California's judicial system is organized along county lines, but the county courts are a part of the state court system, and are not part of the county government. Historically, counties were responsible for providing courthouses and courthouse security for the Superior Courts of California, even though the superior courts were actually divisions of the state government, not the county governments. This unfunded mandate was a perennial source of frustration for both the superior courts and the counties. The Legislature finally responded by enacting the Trial Court Funding Act of 1997 and then the Trial Court Facilities Act of 2002 to transfer all courthouses to the state government and to relieve the counties of the burden of providing facilities to state courts. However, because the state government was not prepared to assume the burden of developing its own statewide courthouse security force, the superior courts were allowed to establish agreements with county sheriffs by which the courts would reimburse counties for continuing to provide deputy sheriffs to serve as bailiffs in the courthouses.County grand juries
California also uses grand juries, with at least one per county. These county-level grand juries are often called civil grand juries because their primary focus is on oversight of government institutions at the county level and lower. They meet at least once per year.LAFCOs
Because of historical problems with fragmentation of local government as a result of the formation of too many special districts by enthusiastic local officials, all counties currently have a corresponding Local Agency Formation Commission, one for each county. A LAFCO regulates the creation of special districts and the annexation of unincorporated land to cities within the county. No incorporated city may cross county boundaries, and special districts that span county lines must be specially approved by the state Legislature.Municipalities
| City | Government |
| Los Angeles | Government of Los Angeles |
| San Francisco | Government of San Francisco |
| San Jose | Government of San Jose |
| Sacramento | Government of Sacramento |
As of Jan 26, 2022, there were 482 incorporated municipalities in the state. Under California law, the terms "city" and "town" are explicitly interchangeable; the name of an incorporated municipality in the state can either be "City of " or "Town of ". Counties exercise the powers of cities in unincorporated areas.
Municipal government
Charter Cities
California municipalities are either charter or general-law. General-law municipalities have powers defined by the state's Government Code; The California Constitution gives cities the power to become charter cities. charter municipalities may have increased powers, but the adoption or amendment of a city charter requires a popular vote. The benefit of becoming a charter city is that charter cities have supreme authority over “municipal affairs.” In other words, a charter city’s law concerning a municipal affair will trump a state law governing the same topic. According the California League of Cities, there are currently 121 charter cities in California. Being a charter city grants the municipality the flexibility and autonomy to address its unique challenges.Most small cities have a council–manager government, where the elected city council appoints a city manager to supervise the operations of the city. Some larger cities have a mayor–council government, with a directly-elected mayor who oversees the city government. In many council–manager cities, the city council selects one of its members as a mayor, sometimes rotating through the council membership—but this type of mayoral position is primarily ceremonial.
Municipal services
Incorporated cities and towns have the power to levy taxes. They are responsible for providing police service, zoning, issuing building permits, and maintaining public streets. Municipalities may also provide parks, public housing, and various utility services, though all of these are sometimes provided by special districts, and some utilities are provided privately. Incorporated cities may promulgate ordinances which are usually codified in a city code, and violations of the ordinances are misdemeanor crimes unless otherwise specified as an infraction.Residents of a sufficiently large piece of unincorporated county land can incorporate a city. The city government then takes some of the tax revenue that would have gone to the county, and can impose additional taxes on its residents. It can then choose to provide almost all the services usually provided by the county, or provide only a few and pay the county to do the rest. A city in this last arrangement is called a contract city; this type of contract is generally known among lawyers as the "Lakewood Plan", because it was pioneered by the city of Lakewood in 1954.