.; GC77(1)-2 VOLUME 1 - GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION NUMBER2 Popularly Elected Officials 1977 CENSUS OF G(bViERNMENTS I l!'~S.Department of Commerce BUREAU OF THE CENSUS I, . GC77(1)-2 VOLUME 1 GOVERf\JMENTAL ORGANIZATION NUMBER2 Issued October 1979 Popularly Elected Officials , " ,I, ',' .: l' ,; _~, 't • I'}) 1977 CENSUS OF GOVERNMENTS U.S. Department of Commerce Juanita M. Kreps, Secretary Luther H. Hodges, Jr., Under Secretary Courtenay M. Slater, Chief Economist BUREAU OF THE CENSUS Vincent P. Barabba, Director BUREAU OF THE CENSUS Vincent P. Barabba, Director Daniel B.. levine, Deputy Director Shirley Kallek, Associate Director for Economic Fields GOVERNMENTS DIVISION Sherman Landau, Chief Preface This report, Number 2 of Volume 1 of the This report was prepared under the direction the preparation of copy for publication. 1977 Censlis of Governments, provides findings of Muriel'MiII.r, Chief of the Governmental State and local officials throughout the of this census concerning the popularly elected Organization Branch O,f the Governments. ccuntrv provided information for this phase of officials of State and local governments as of Division, with assistance from Mouth.1I W. the 1977 Census of Governments. Their early 1977. Moore and E. Elaine Thoma, under the general cooperation is most gratefully acknowledged. The periodic census of governments is taken supervision of John R. Collman, Assista"t at 5-year intervals as required by law under Chief for Economic Stati$t\cs; M.rprlt Godbee Title 13, United States Code, Section 161. This and Dorothy H.pner provided technical ! 1977 census, similClrto those taken since 1957, assistance for survey operations. PIUI Rlnno Li!)rary of Congress Cataloging J covers four major subject fields-governmental conducted mos~ of the basic research. on 1ejJ8l1y in Publication Data ! organization, taxable property values, public authorized elective offices of State and local i employment. and governmental finances. United States. Bureau of the Census. 1 governments. M,urici Criz, Senior Advisor, was I Plans and specifications for this census were responsible for review of this publication. 1977 census of governments. del/eloped by the Governments Division in Data proceSSing OIlera\ions Mre directed by CONTENTS: v.1. Governmental orqaniza- I consultation with other offices and divillions of tion. 1. United StateS-Administrative and ( Juditb Jlnninlll, Chief of the Computer Utili- the Bureau, other Federal Government zation Branch, with assistance from Robert political divisions. 2. Finance, Public-United agencies, the Census Advisory Committee on Bloomb.rg. John Burroughs, Victoria States-States. 3. Local finance-United States. State and Local Governme"t Statistics, and Campbell, and StlPhen Poytll. 4. State governments-Officials and employees. with numerous other organizations and indi- Corri"" W. D.vil of the Governments 5. Local officials and employees-United States. viduals concerned with the structure and Division and the staff of the Publication I.Title. administration of local government. Services Division provided advice and service in JS3.A246 317.3 78-17414 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Pri.nting Office, Washington, Q.C. 20402, or any U.S. Department of Commerce district office. Postage stamps not acceptable: currency submitted at sender's risk, Remittances from foreign countries must be by international money order or by draft on a U.S. bank. Stock no. 003-024~1604-4. Contents Page Introduction ..... • . 1 Types of Governments , . 1 States . 1 Counties . 1 Municipalities. 2 Townships , . 2 School Districts ,... 3 Special Districts ,............................................... 3 Neighborhood Councils 4 Types of Offices , . 4 Elected Local Officials in County Areas 4 I Elected Local Officials in Metropolitan Areas , , . 5 l Legally Authorized Elective Offices 6 Sources and Limitations of Data , 6 I Tables I [; 1. Elected Officials of State and Local Governments, Inside and Outside SMSA's, by Type of Government: 1977 .... ,... 9 T 2. Number of Governments and Elected Officials of State and Local Governments, by Type of Government, by State: 1977 and 1967 . .. 10 3. Elected Officials of State and Local Governments in Relation to Population and Numbers of Governments, by State: 1977 12 4, Elected Officials of Local Governments, by Type of Office, Inside and Outside SMSA's, by State: 1977 . .. 13 5. Local Governments by Number of Elected Officials, by Type of Government, by State: 1977 14 6. Elected Officials of State Governments, by State: 1977 . .. 18 7, Elected Officials and Members of Governing Boards of County Governments, Inside and Outside SMSA's, by State: 1977 19 8. Elected Officials of Municipalities, Inside and Outside SMSA's, by State: 1977 21 9, Elected Officials of Township Governments, Inside and Outside SMSA's, By State: 1977 , . .. 23 10. Elected Officials and Members of Governing Boards of School Districts, Inside and Outside SMSA's, by State: 1977 . .. 24 11. Elected Officials and Members of Governlnq Boards of Dependent Local School Systems, by State: 1977 , 26 12. Elected Officials and Members of Governing Boards of Special Districts, Inside and Outside SMSA's, by State: 1977 27 13. Local Governments and Elected Local Officials, by Type of Government, in Individual SMSA's: 1977 , 30 14. Local Governments and Elected Local Government Officials, by Type of Government, for States and Counties: 1977 . .. 45 15. Legally Authorized Elective Offices of State and Local Governments, by Type of Government: 1977 87 Appendix . .. 205 Publications Program ....•.................................................................. 207 Introduction " 1, The administration and control of the The number of elected local officials the findings of the 1977 Census of Gov- I 79,912 State and local governments in reflects the marked differences in the ernments concerning the elected officials the United States in 1977 were exercised pattern of local government structure of the State governments and the major primarly through 490,265 popularly among the States, as shown in table 2. types of local governments-counties, elected officials-23 for every 10,000 There were 23 elected local officials municipalities, townships, school districts, inhabitants in the Nation. for every 10,000 inhabitants in the and special districts. A brief description Some elective offices are legally United States as a whole in 1977. Similar of each class of local government is also authorized for all States and counties, information for each State is presented included. all municipalities, and all townships. Most in table 3. The number of elected officials by independent school districts and a sub- States stantial portion of all special districts are State ranges from 172 in Hawaii to more than 40,000 in Illinois. The following also administered by elected officials, There were 15,294 elected State of- 10 States each had more than 18,000 although this is not universal. ficials reported in 1977 as shown in table elected officials in 1977: As shown in table A, the average num- 6. The average number per State was ber of elected officials per government is 306, but Delaware had only 80 while California 18,088 six. However, for local governments the Pennsylvania had 1,149. Illinois 40,457 averages range from three per special Nearly half (7,562) of all elected State Michigan 19,383 district and six per school district to 21 officials were members of the State Minnesota 19,143 for each county government. Municipali- legislatures. Of the remaining number, New York 24,076 ties and townships average seven officials 1,229 were elected members of State North Dakota 18,042 per government. boards and 6,503 comprised executive Ohio 19,890 As noted in table A, the total num- and judicial officials. Pennsylvania 28,903 ber of elected officials has been adjusted The information shown for State Texas 24,728 to count only once 373 local officials boards includes, along with the usual such Wisconsin 18,962 who serve bo ..h as county and township boards, officials elected to administer or municipal officials. These officials have State-operated local school systems in These 10 States accounted tor 47 per- been included in the figures shown for Alaska and Hawaii and the elected mem- cent of all elected officials in the Nation. each of the types of local governments bers of soil conservation district boards they serve in order to provide compre- in Arizona, Delaware, Louisiana, Missouri, TYPES OF GOVERNMENTS hensive figures on the elected officials and Washington, where these districts are of each type of local government in- classified for census reporting as depend- The following paragraphs summarize volved. ent State agencies. Table A Counties Number of Number of Average per Type of Government Organized county governments are elected officials governmer,t governments found throughout the Nation except in United States ........ 79,912 1490,265 6.1 Connecticut, Rhode Island, the District of Columbia, and limited portions of State governments ......... 50 15,294 305.9 Local govllrnments . 79,862 1474,971 6.0 other States. In Louisiana, the counties Counties ............• 3,042 62,922 20.7 are officially designated as "parishes," Municipalities .......... 18,862 134,017 7.1 and the "boroughs" in Alaska resemble Townships ...........• 16,822 118,966 7.1 School districts . •. 15,174 87,062 5.7 county governments in other States. Special districts. 25,962 72,377 2.8 County government follows a basically similar