The basic provisions for the government of California counties
are contained in the California Constitution and the California
Government Code. A county is the largest political subdivision of
the state having corporate powers. It is vested by the
Legislature with the powers necessary to provide for the health
and welfare of the people within its borders. The specific
organizational structure of a county in California will vary from
county to county.
There is a fundamental distinction between a county and a city.
Counties lack broad powers of self-government that California
cities have (e.g., cities have broad revenue generating authority
and counties do not). In addition, legislative control over
counties is more complete than it is over cities. Unless
restricted by a specific provision of the state Constitution, the
Legislature may delegate to the counties any of the functions
which belong to the state itself. Conversely, the state may take
back to itself and resume the functions which it has delegated to
counties (e.g., state funding of trial courts).
Unlike the separation of powers that characterizes the federal
and state governments, the Board of Supervisors is both the
legislative and the executive authority of the county. It also
has quasi-judicial authorities.
The County Administrator is the county’s top staff member. While
the position has many titles (Chief Executive, County Manager,
County Administrative Officer, Chief Administrative Officer,
Administrative Coordinator, Administrative Officer, County
Administrator, Administrative Director, Administrative Services
Director, Executive Officer, County Executive), the functions
remain basically the same from county to county. The County
Administrator is responsible for the day-to-day functions of the
county and prepares the annual budget for the Board of
Supervisors.
The Agriculture Department is under the control of the
Agricultural Commissioner, who is appointed under state statute
and is responsible for the administration and enforcement of all
applicable laws and regulations related to environmental and
consumer protection.
The Assessor is a constitutionally elected official whose main
duty is to set values on property. Fiduciary responsibilities
encompass managing, planning, organizing and directing all phases
of operations in the Assessor’s Office for producing an annual
assessment roll. The Assessor has the responsibility for annually
discovering and assessing all property within the county.
In 47 of the 58 counties, the Auditor-Controller is an
independent, nonpartisan elected office established to provide
various accounting and property tax administration services to
the county government, special districts, schools and cities. The
11 counties with appointed officers are: Alpine, Glenn, Kings,
Los Angeles, Marin, Mono, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco,
Santa Clara, and Yolo. The Auditor-Controller is the chief
accounting officer of the county responsible for budget control,
disbursements and receipts, and financial reporting.
The mission of the California Child Support Services Program is
to promote the well-being of children and the self sufficiency of
families by assisting both parents to meet the financial,
medical, and emotional needs of their children through the
delivery of quality child support establishment, collection and
distribution services.
The County Clerks, except in several large counties where they
are appointed, are nonpartisan, countywide elected officials
serving four-year terms. Due to the complexity of the
arrangements in each of the 58 counties in California, the County
Clerk may also assume a variety of other duties and its office
may be consolidated with other separate, independently elected
countywide offices such as the tax collector-treasurer, auditor,
assessor, or public guardian.
The County Counsel is the chief civil law officer of the county
and provides legal services to the Board of Supervisors, county
and court officials, and other agencies and districts. The County
Counsel is a statutory officer appointed by the Board of
Supervisors and serves a four-year term in general law counties
and without a term in some charter counties.
The District Attorney (DA) is a constitutionally elected county
official. The District Attorney is responsible for the
prosecution of criminal violations of state law and county
ordinances occurring within a county under California Government
Code Section 26500. This includes investigation and apprehension,
as well as prosecution in court. The District Attorney serves as
legal advisor to the Grand Jury and, through its family support
division, enforces parental financial obligations.
Fifty-one of the 58 California counties have Environmental Health
Departments or divisions. Thirty-three of these departments are
located within County Health Agencies, with the balance located
in other agencies or as separate agencies. Four California cities
(Berkeley, Long Beach, Pasadena, and Vernon) have comprehensive
Environmental Health Departments. The State Department of Health
Service’s Rural Health Division’s Environmental Health Unit
provides environmental health services to 10 of the smaller
counties.
In California, counties have been providing health care services
for almost 150 years. With the exception of local Health
Departments operated by the cities of Berkeley, Long Beach, and
Pasadena, counties provide a wide variety of health services to
all residents of the county, regardless of whether they reside in
the unincorporated area or reside within city limits. In other
words, the county Health Department is also the cities’ Health
Department.
Information Technology and services play a major role in county
government operations. Approximately 43 of California’s 58
counties have an appointed chief information officer, or director
of technology services. This position serves as the chief
technology executive in the county organizational structure, and
usually has the responsibility for computer operations, Internet
and intranet services, telecommunications facilities, and
automated systems integration functions between data, voice and
video technology.
The Personnel Department is responsible for various human
resource programs which provide employment related information
and services. In some counties, these programs may be assigned to
other staff departments or to some degree may be delegated to
line departments. Twenty-eight counties have approved local merit
systems and the remaining counties have locally developed
personnel systems which otherwise observe various state and
federal laws and regulations.
The state’s Planning and Zoning Law requires that each county
establish a Planning Agency to carry out specified planning
functions. The agency functions may be delegated to a department,
one or more planning commissions, administrative bodies or
hearing officers, the legislative body itself or any combination
thereof. Recognizing the diversity among county planning
operations, “Planning Agency” is a generic term that applies to
whichever body performs the designated planning functions.
Each of California’s 58 counties has a Probation Department; San
Francisco has two — one for adults and a separate one for
juveniles. The Probation Department, like the sheriff’s
department, district attorney’s office, public defender’s office,
and courts is a key component of the county’s criminal justice
system.
The Public Defender’s Office is responsible for providing legal
defense (at all stages of the proceedings) for any person who is
not financially able to employ counsel and who is charged with
any contempt or offense triable in the superior or municipal
court. The Public Defender, appointed by the Board of
Supervisors, carries out the office responsibilities with the
assistance of deputy counsels and other support staff.
The Public Guardian-Conservator-Administrator provides mandated
conservatorship and estate administration services as specified
by the Probate Code and Welfare and Institution’s Code. The
organization of these services varies among counties. The Public
Guardian, Public Conservator, and/or Public Administrator is
personally responsible for these functions, which are delegated
within the department.
The Public Works Department is responsible for planning,
designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining the county’s
infrastructure: public roads, transportation systems, bridges,
water, wastewater, drainage, and solid waste disposal systems.
The department is administered by the Director of Public Works,
who is appointed by the Board of Supervisors, and is assisted by
necessary administrative and support staff.
The Sheriff has three primary duties: keep the peace (e.g., make
arrests, respond to calls); attend the courts (e.g., superior
court bailiffs); and operate the county jail. All 58 counties in
California have a Sheriff’s Department and 48 of those counties
also provide for the Sheriff to assume the duties of the Coroner.
The Sheriff is a constitutionally elected official. The Coroner,
in those counties where the Sheriff doesn’t assume both roles, is
responsible for inquiring into and determining the circumstance,
manner, and cause of all violent, sudden, or unusual deaths.
