The Nome nugget., 1955-09-26
Creation of County Structure Will Be
 One of Biggest Issues at Convention
By WENDELL c. SCHAEFFER Public Administration Service

menL structure. Although the ter ritorial legislature is empowered by Congress to deal generally with the subject of local govern ment, it is specifically prohibited from creating county structure without affirmative action by the US. Congress.
 When the delegates to the Con- stitutional Convention meet in College, one of the most important issues they will be called upon to consider is the creation of a struc- ture of local government in Alas ka. Consequently, the question of dividing the new state into coun- ties is certain to arise.
 There is little uniformity in county government from one state to the next. Even within the same state, urban and rural counties are likely to differ radically.
 Counties came into existence in New England primarily as judicial subdivisions of the state, and to a considerable degree they have re- smained little more than this. Local government in towns or town ships preceded the creation of the. state and had already assumed most local functions before the county came into being. In the early rural southern economy, the county assumed great importance as a local government unit with legal, commercial, and political activity centered in the various county seats. County ties are still strong in the rural South, but in urban areas the larger cities have taken over many of the local gov- ernment functions. The county has nevertheless remained a most important political division of the southern states in spite of the growth of large cities, and often it has proved frustratingly effective in blocking needed changes in lo- cal government structure designed to accommodate better the politi- cal development of major indus trial, commercial, and residential centers.
 Counties in general are more appropriately designated as geo. graphical subdivisions of the state than as units of true local self government. While a board of county commissioners is almost universally provided, it's legisla- tive authority is customarily linn tied rigidly by state law, and it's authority over governmental ac- tivities at the county level usually extends to but a part of the county functions. The board may be ell ected at large, or from districts, or may be made up of township and city officials who constitute the board in an ex-officio capac- ity. Almost without exception there are a number of indepen- dently elected county officials who perform their functions as specified by state law and who have little if any responsibility to the county board. These include judges, county clerks, assessors, sheriffs, coroners, recorders, and school superintendents. Most US. counties have no executive officer, but a host of independent officers responsible to no one but the cleo torate or, where they are appoint ed, to the governor of the state.
 Usually the county board has little or no law-making authority and no authority to prescribe pen alties. Their authority derives from the state constitution or from state legislative enactment rather than from the people of the community they serve.
 The following are among the