1. Organization of Local Gov’ts

2. 5 Types of Local Gov’t  County  Township  Municipality  Special-purpose district  School district/public school system

3. County  County sheriff  Runs jail  Carries out court orders  County clerk  registers/records births, deaths, marriages, mortgages, deeds  Runs elections

4. County  District attorney  Criminal investigations  Prosecutions

5. County  Collect taxes (property)  Building/repairing roads, bridges  Issue licenses  Health care

6. Township  Hold annual meeting  Governed by boards  Rural areas

7. Municipality  Urban political unit, legally defined territory, elected leadership  Usually smaller than county or township  Governed by mayor & council

8. Special-purpose districts  Services provided:  Water, sewage  Fire/police  EMS  Parks, libraries, airports

9. School districts/Public schools  Most common type of special purpose  Supported by local property taxes  Borrow money with bonds

10. Watts Riots 1965  Watts, CA, a municipality, became suburb of LA  High unemployment  Tensions increase between blacks/whites with arrest of black family (officer was white)