Executive Legislative Judicial Executive

STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Each state constitution provides for 

the establishment of local governmental 

entities. In all states, these local entities 

include counties* and cities, but most 

states also provide for other types of lo-

cal government, including wards, school 

districts, conservation districts, townships, 

and transportation authorities. These 

special types of local government have 

regulatory, administrative, or taxing au-

thority as defi ned in the state constitution 

or in state law.

There are over 500,000 elected of-

fi cials in the United States. Of these, fewer 

than 8,500 are at the national and state 

level. The rest are local government of-

fi cials — city council members, school 

board members, mayors, sheriffs, and 

an array of other individuals who serve in 

various capacities.