County Seat
A county seat is the administrative seat of a county in the United States and Canada . A county seat is usually located in a centrally located courthouse , where the county court is also located (corresponds to the district court ). In contrast to the Austrian or German approach, the respective location does not automatically become the district capital.
The term county town is used in Great Britain and Ireland .
Special features in the individual US states
- In Alaska the name Borough Seat is used.
- In California , San Francisco has a county administration in addition to the city administration, and a county sheriff also serves in addition to the city police .
- In Louisiana , the term parish is used instead of county . The county seat is therefore also known as the parish seat .
- In some New England states, such as Connecticut , Massachusetts, and Rhode Island , counties are only geographic names and have no political powers . Either the municipalities themselves or the administration of the respective federal state take action.
- There are five counties in New York City : New York County ( Manhattan ), Kings County ( Brooklyn ), Bronx County (The Bronx ), Queens County ( Queens ), and Richmond County ( Staten Island ).
- In Vermont , the city where the county seat is located is called Shire Town .
- In Virginia , the county seats are sometimes not part of the county, since under local law all major cities - similar to a county-level city - are independent.