counties
US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney described counties as, “nothing more than certain portions of the territory into which the state is divided for the more convenient exercise of the powers of government.”
Cities and Towns are “called into existence either at the direct request or by consent of the persons composing them and created principally for the advantage and convenience of the people of the locality”. Counties, however, are established by the General Assembly based on best interests of the state and “without the particular solicitation, consent or concurrent action of the people who inhabit them.”
There are 95 counties in Virginia.
•The largest county is Fairfax – population 1.1 million;
•The smallest is Highland County with a population of 2,319
Rhode Island and Connecticut have no county governments. Delaware has three. Texas has 254 counties, the most of any state.
Why? Small, geographically compact states have no need for administrative subunits of the state. States with substantial urban centers rely more on incorporated municipalities (cities/towns), so have weaker county governments. County governments are strongest in southern states, with large land areas and less dense population.
The general view of the role of counties was expressed by Judge Abraham P. Staples in 1947 who ruled that the state had an established policy of “… placing urban areas under city government and keeping rural areas under county government.”
Cities and Towns are “called into existence either at the direct request or by consent of the persons composing them and created principally for the advantage and convenience of the people of the locality”. Counties, however, are established by the General Assembly based on best interests of the state and “without the particular solicitation, consent or concurrent action of the people who inhabit them.”
There are 95 counties in Virginia.
•The largest county is Fairfax – population 1.1 million;
•The smallest is Highland County with a population of 2,319
Rhode Island and Connecticut have no county governments. Delaware has three. Texas has 254 counties, the most of any state.
Why? Small, geographically compact states have no need for administrative subunits of the state. States with substantial urban centers rely more on incorporated municipalities (cities/towns), so have weaker county governments. County governments are strongest in southern states, with large land areas and less dense population.
The general view of the role of counties was expressed by Judge Abraham P. Staples in 1947 who ruled that the state had an established policy of “… placing urban areas under city government and keeping rural areas under county government.”