Welcome to Passport to Your County!

1. Welcome to Passport to Your County! A basic overview of county government in Utah

2. What are Counties? • Counties are geographical areas within each state that surround one or more cities/towns and provide services to all citizens within their boundaries. • Some states call them something different. For example, Louisiana identifies them as Parishes, while Alaska and New York refer to them as Boroughs.

3. What are Counties? • Counties come in all shapes and sizes. • Utah’s counties have populations between just under 1 thousand (Daggett) and just under 1 million (Salt Lake). • Loving County, Texas is smallest at about 65 people, while Los Angeles County, California is largest at just under 10 million.

4. What are Counties? • Each state has a different number of counties. • Utah has 29 counties. • Hawaii and Delaware have only three (the least). • Texas has 254 (the most).

5. Why are Counties Important? • Counties provide many different and important services. • Citizens who vote and local county leaders decide what services their county needs most. • Also, the state and federal government require counties to provide some services.

6. Services Provided in Utah These are just some of the main services counties in Utah provide: • Public Safety • Jails • Road Construction/Repair • Animal Services • Health & Human Services • Sanitation Services • Parks & Recreation • Libraries • Tourism • Economic Development • Planning & Zoning • Many Others

7. How are Counties Structured? • Each county decides. • Two main structures to county government in Utah: • Commission Form • Council Form • Counties also decide on whether to have an elected or appointed administrator, or to not have one at all.

8. The County Commission • Commission form is most common in Utah. Twenty-four of Utah’s 29 counties use this. • Commissions are made up of three elected commissioners. • Depending on needs and size of the county, some commissioners are full-time, while others are only part-time. • Some counties have appointed administrators who take care of day-to-day issues of running a county, while the commission provides overall direction.

9. The County Council • Only five of Utah’s 29 counties use the council form of government. • Councils vary in size, four counties have seven council members, while Salt Lake has nine. • All councils are elected part-time positions. • One of the council counties have an appointed administrator (Wasatch), two have elected administrators (Cache & Salt Lake), and two counties has neither (Grand & Morgan).

10. Commissions and Councils • Commissioners and council members oversee all county services and functions. • Each member of the commission or council oversees several specific areas so that everything is monitored. • Members of the commission or council collectively oversee the county budget. • Each week (usually on Tuesdays), commissions and councils meet to discuss the important issues facing their county. The public is encouraged to attend.

11. Other County Offices • Besides commissioners and council members, each county also elects other key people to oversee specific areas of county service. • Depending on the population of the county, some of these offices are combined or filled with a non-elected official. • Assessor • Attorney • Auditor • Clerk • Mayor/Executive • Recorder • Sheriff • Surveyor • Treasurer

12. County Assessor • County Assessor’s office determines the value of business and residential property (homes and vehicles). • Based on the fair value of property, a tax is assessed. • Property tax money pays for not only county services such as parks and roads, but also for schools and other things each community feels it needs. Property Tax = $$$ $$$ = Services

13. County Attorney • Attorneys protect citizens of the county in two areas—Criminal and Civil. • Criminal duties include prosecuting individuals accused of breaking state or local criminal laws. • Civil duties include representing county government in law suits, drafting contracts and ordinances, giving counties legal opinions and advice, and representing the county before other governmental entities (such as the Legislature).

14. County Auditor • Because counties oversee large sums of tax dollars and the services that they pay for, each county has an auditor who ensures that the money and assets are handled correctly. • Most counties in Utah combine this office with the Clerk, calling it the office of the Clerk/Auditor.

15. County Clerk • County Clerks oversee all federal, state, and local elections—whether county officials are up for election or not. • Their office also issues marriage licenses, receives and transmits passport applications, and prepares and retains all minutes, agendas and correspondence for the commission or council and other meetings.

16. County Mayor/Executive • Only two Utah counties have an elected mayor or executive. • Cache County has an elected executive office that oversees all the county’s day-to-day operations. • Salt Lake County has an elected mayor office that does much of the same thing. • It should be noted that many counties have an appointed or non-elected official that oversees day-to-day county operations. Cache County Executive Lynn Lemon Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon

17. County Recorder • The Recorder's Office records and keeps a large library of documents. Some of these are quite old—dating back to the 1800s. These include: • Records of property that is bought, sold, or transferred.  • Maps called “plats” that show all the land in the county and who owns it. • A variety of other records and documents such as military discharges, federal tax liens, and court judgments.

18. County Sheriff • The County Sheriff is probably the most recognized county official. • The Sheriff’s office oversees law enforcement for the entire county, including outside city or town limits. • Sheriffs oversee a wide variety of programs designed to protect the public. These include: • Drug enforcement • Search and rescue • Prevention • Dispatch • Many, many more

19. County Surveyor • The County Surveyor makes sure that all property within the county is correctly located, measured, and recorded. • Surveyors use this information to produce maps showing where everything is. • These maps help identify roads, boundaries, and other landmarks for citizens, emergency response people, postal workers, and many others who need to have accurate information about where things are.

20. County Treasurer • The main function of the county treasurer is to bill and collect property taxes. • However, they also are responsible for distributing the tax revenues to the many different entities that assess taxes, including school districts and cities.

21. What County Do You Live in? Box Elder County

22. Interesting Box Elder County Facts • The economy is mainly agriculture, but also aerospace/defense has a strong presence. • In Utah, Box Elder is the 4th largest county in land area and 8th largest in population. • Average age in Box Elder is 28. • Known for producing wonderful tasting peaches and apples. • Peach Days is the longest continually celebrated harvest festival in Utah, and is reported to be the second oldest in the country. • Home to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

23. Box Elder County Cities & Towns • Garland • Honeyville • Howell • Mantua • Perry • Plymouth • Bear River • Brigham City • Corinne • Deweyville • Elwood • Fielding

24. Box Elder County Landmarks • Crystal Hot Springs • Willard Bay • Golden Spike National Historic Site • Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge • Brigham City Tabernacle

25. Box Elder County History • Established in 1856 as a county. • Brigham City is the county seat. • Named after the many Box Elder trees that grow here. • July 30, 1863 Treaty of Box Elder signed. • May 10, 1869 gold spike was driven in Promontory completing the nation’s transcontinental line. • 1957 Thiokol Chemical (now Morton-Thiokol) began operations.

26. Box Elder County Government • Three Elected Commissioners • Other Elected Offices: • Assessor/Treasurer • Attorney • Auditor • Recorder/Clerk/Surveyor • Sheriff • Department heads, administrative officers and chief deputies are all appointed, not elected.

27. Box Elder County Services • Law Enforcement • Library • Marriage License • Passport • Planning & Zoning • Road Department • Tourism • Weed Control • Building Inspection • Economic Development • Elections • Emergency Services • Fairgrounds • Justice Court • Health Department • Landfill

28. County Government Summary • Counties are geographical areas within a state that surround one or more cities/towns and provide services to all citizens within their boundaries. • Each county decides how their community or group of communities will be governed. • Each county has several elected officials who oversee various aspects of county government. • County governments offer a wide variety of important services to the community. • Utah has 29 counties.

29. More Information About County Government • Utah Association of Counties www.UACnet.org • National Association of Counties www.NACo.org