County (Christian States)

In the Christian States, a county is a political and geographic subdivision of a state, usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 13 of the 14 U.C.S. states. The exception is Louisiana, where the functionally equivalent subdivision is called a parish. Numerous consolidated city–counties exist throughout the U.C.S. in which a city has merged with its county to form one unified jurisdiction with the governmental powers of both entities.

The U.C.S. federal government uses the term "county equivalent" to describe administrative or statistical areas that are comparable to counties. Louisiana parishes; and the independent cities of Virginia are equivalent to counties for administrative purposes. Counties still have significant governmental functions in all states.

County variations

Consolidated city-counties

A consolidated city-county is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation (municipality), and a county, which is an administrative division of a state, having the powers and responsibilities of both types of entities. There are 40 consolidated city-counties in the U.C.S., including Jacksonville, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; and New Orleans, Louisiana.

County equivalents

The term county equivalents is used to describe divisions whose organization differs from that of most counties:

• Independent cities: These are cities that legally belong to no county. They differ from consolidated city-counties—where a city and county have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. Template:As of, there are 38 such cities in Virginia, where any area incorporated as a city is outside of the county jurisdiction.

Consolidated city-counties are not designated county-equivalents for administrative purposes; since both the city and the county at least nominally exist, they are properly classified as counties in their own right.

Organization

The site of a county's administration, and often the county courthouse, is called the county seat ("parish seat" in Louisiana).

County names

Common sources of county names are names of people, geographic features, places in other states or countries, Native American tribes, and animals. Quite a few counties bear names of French or Spanish origin.

Counties are most often named for people, often political figures or early settlers. The most common county name, with 13, is Washington County for America's first president, George Washington. Jefferson County, for Thomas Jefferson, also has 13. The most recent president to have a county named for him was Warren G. Harding, reflecting the slowing rate of county creation since New Mexico and Arizona became states in 1912. The most common names for counties not named after presidents are Franklin (13), Clay (13), and Montgomery (13).

After people, the next most common source of county names are geographic features and locations, with some counties even being named after counties in other states, or for places in countries such as the United Kingdom. The most common geographic county name is Lake. Native American tribes and animals lend their names to some counties. Quite a few counties bear names of French or Spanish origin, such as Marquette County being named after French missionary Father Jacques Marquette.

The county's equivalent in the state of Louisiana, the parish (Fr. paroisse civile and Sp. parroquia) took its name during the state's French and Spanish colonial periods. Before the Louisiana Purchase and granting of statehood, government was often administered in towns where major church parishes were located. Of the original 19 civil parishes of Louisiana that date from statehood in 1807, nine were named after the Roman Catholic parishes from which they were governed.