counties call the county seat because the county courthouse and other county offices are located the will service commission is established by law to provide a more efficient method of hiring personnel for governmental jobs and also to provide the employees with a protection against changing administration the civil service uses a merit system to select people for employment on the basis of qualifications which they indicate in competitive examinations advancement is attained by promotional examinations which are also competitive the various county appointed positions are classified by civil service and persons are given tests which concern the kind of work they will do those with the highest scores are placed at the top of the list and vacancies are failed from the top do the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of the county is primary duty is to provide police protection in unincorporated and rural areas the number of deputies under his command will vary with the size of the and the population the sheriff is in charge of the county jail in the custody of prisoners many counties maintain work farms where prisoners may serve their sentences at farm work and other similar activities this type of project has proven beneficial to prisoners and profitable to the county the modern sheriff's office is equipped with two way radio criminal identification records including fingerprints photos and jail records the sheriff is also responsible for prisoners appearing in court for trial and the delivery of convicted prisoners to state prisons the sheriff's office supplies each county court with a deputy to act as bail it is a bailiff duty to maintain order call witnesses and to assist the co the county courts are variously referred to as superior courts district courts or circuit courts these courts are fundamentally units of the state and are used for the prosecution of felony divorces the court clerk swears in all persons call to the witness stand the also keeps a record of all court business and attends to issuing summons and subpoenas and the selection of juries court clerks are provided to the courts by the county the district attorney is the public prosecutor in behalf of the state and also serves as a legal advisor to the county he has assistants and deputies to handle the various activities required of his office the deputies are required to be attorneys as legal advisor the district attorney's office represents the county in suits arising from contract disputes the obtaining of land for county use and various other civil actions as public prosecutor it is the responsibility of the district attorney's office to prosecute any person who commits a crime within the co the office of public defender is maintained to provide legal assistance to persons who are charged with crimes and are unable to afford the services of an attorney to represent them in court many counties provide a law library where attorneys judges on the general public may make use of a vast number of books on all types of laws and legal procedures the coroner is responsible for determining the cause of death when the circumstances are more or less mysterious for the cause i know a thorough examination of the deceased is then performed by a surgeon this examination is called an autopsy the results of this autopsy and other known facts are presented at an inquest for hearing from these facts can be determined whether criminal proceedings should be start the county clerk's office in addition to providing the clerk for the superior courts also acts as clerk of the board of supervisors these duties consist of keeping the minutes preparing resolutions receive and file petitions keep a record of all ordinances adopted by the board and publish public notices is in charge of the registration of all eligible voters within the co he also prepares the ballots arranges for the precinct voting place personnel and is responsible for the safety being of ballots and precinct voting tallies the office of recorder was established to provide a means of recording all sales of real estate within the county it service has been expanded to include all manner of legal transactions as well as vital statistics such as birth and death records when documents are presented for recording they are stamped with the time of day the date and are given a serial number legality of a transaction may depend on who filed a document first the document is given a title for index purposes and is listed in a master index volume so that the photographic copy may be instantly made available the photocopies are made on huge automatic machines that photograph both sides of the documents and develops them within a matter of minutes the original document is returned to the owner and the copies are bound in volumes that become a permanent record formerly the work of county surveyor consisted of surveying the alignment of new roads and establishing property line the work of the surveyor is much more technical now and requires the additional services of civil engineer as well as construction and maintenance personnel the office of surveyor and engineer prepares plans for new roads and bridges designs and builds drainage structures supervises all county construction projects maintains the county roads and furnishes engineering a planning commission is a recent addition to county administration it is composed of several appointed members each representing a different section of the county their duties are a future planning for the best usage of land within th straighten out conflicting interests of property owners and to provide adequate zoning ordinances the county agricultural department is responsible for maintaining and enforcing standards of quality for all farm products is also the department's responsibility to prevent the introduction and spread of injurious weeds and insects nursery and seed inspection pest surveys and preparation of agricultural statistics are also part of the agricultural department the department of weights and measures renders a service to the public by inspecting for accuracy every weighing or measuring instrument used for business within the co devices that are used to determine units of solid or liquid for sale must bear the seal of the department of weights and m county superintendent of schools is in charge of all schools within the county except those in the city limits the days of the little one room school house with one teacher for all classes are rapidly disappearing a centralized supply source it is not possible for even the smallest school to enjoy all the teaching aids an advantage is formally available only to a city school good roads and safe fast transportation have allowed rural schools to grow larger in size thus providing better educational opportunities library facilities are made available to rural areas through branch libraries in small communities some counties provide a mobile library unit called a bookmobile which makes a regular schedule of stops to serve farm areas the care of the sick and the poor is another county function the welfare commission administers federal state and county aid to needy aged needy blind needy children and handles all phases of relief within the county to carry on this work an enormous amount of research and paperwork is involved records of relief payments case history files and many other types of records and cross files are maintain the welfare department also supervises the placement of children in foster homes and administers the adoption program under state supervision the licensing of boarding homes for needy children and the aged is another welfare service the health department is responsible for enforcing adequate sanitation majors inspection of water supplies and eating establishments and checking the spread of communicable disease the services of the public health nurses are available without cost to anyone in the county who needs assistance in caring for any contagious disease nearly all counties maintain and operate one or more hospitals for the care of emergency cases and the treatment of the sick and injured who cannot afford hospital care funds to maintain and operate county government are procured through property taxes the county assessor determines the value of all property within the county this is called assessing uses thousands of detailed maps which  catalog according to area and bound in two volumes the maps show the exact size of the land each taxpayer owns and indicates the value of the improvements in the form of buildings and ho to evaluate each properties worth deputy assessors measure the size of the buildings and note the type of construction this evaluation determines the amount of taxes each property owner must pay if a property owner feels that he has been unjustly assessed compared to other owners in his own locality he may appeal his case to the board of supervisors collect unit taxes is handled by the treasurer's office through the tax collector mails are mailed to the taxpayers on a deadline for payment is set delinquent tax bills are subject to financial penalties the treasurer is required to place all money received in banks paying the highest rate of interest the treasurer may pay out funds only when authorized by the board of supervisors and signed for by the  duties of the auditor which in some counties are performed by the county clerk are to care for the bookkeeping details of  he inspects finance accounts and authorizes payments from the treasury he prepares and publishes the financial statements operates the payroll system and is responsible for the payment of all claims against the co electing a separate head for each department although still widely practiced is proving an satisfactory for modern county government an elected official is responsible to the electorate only and the degree of cooperation he gives other departments is entirely up to the individual a few of the county offices can be well served by elected officials these are departments that are primarily state functions or are paid partly by state funds and partly by county funds by placing all departments that are county functions under the control of the board of supervisors greater efficiency is a key department heads can be selected for outstanding ability in their particular field the responsibility then rests with the board of who providers to see that the county government operates efficiently the greatest responsibility rests with we the people to take an active interest in our various governmental agencies and to make sure we elect sincere able men to represent us