page_title: South Bend, Indiana
section_title: Law and government
hierarchical_section_title: South Bend, Indiana / Law and government
caption_attribution_description: English: The County-City Building in downtown South Bend, Indiana. This building houses the Office of the Mayor and many other municipal and county offices. Photo taken 30 July 2015.
context_page_description: South Bend is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its metropolitan statistical area had a population of 318,586 and its combined statistical area, 721,296. It is the fourth-largest city in Indiana, serving as the economic and cultural hub of northern Indiana.
  The area was originally settled in the early 19th century by fur traders and was established as a city in 1865. The St. Joseph River shaped South Bend's economy through the mid-20th century. River access assisted heavy industrial development such as that of the Studebaker Corporation, the Oliver Chilled Plow Company, and other large corporations.
  The population of South Bend declined after 1960, when it had a peak population of 132,445. This was chiefly due to migration to suburban areas as well as the demise of Studebaker and other heavy industry. Today, the largest industries in South Bend are health care, education, small business, and tourism. Remaining large corporations include Crowe, Honeywell, and AM General.
context_section_description: South Bend government follows the mayor-council representative model of municipal government and, along with the St. Joseph county government, occupies the County-City Building in downtown South Bend.
  The government of South Bend is led by the office of the mayor, who is elected to a four-year term and acts as chief executive for the city government. The current mayor is James Mueller.
  The legislative branch of the South Bend government is the Common Council. The council is composed of nine members, each elected to a four-year term. South Bend is divided into six districts, with each district electing one council member. The final three members are elected at-large. Under Indiana law, the council may pass resolutions and ordinances. Resolutions relate to internal council procedures, while ordinances address municipal codes.
  The final elected member of the South Bend government is the city clerk, who is responsible for maintaining official city records and providing general clerical assistance to the City Council. The current clerk is Dawn M. Jones.
  Michael A. Dvorak is the prosecuting attorney for the 60th Judicial Circuit, which consists of St. Joseph County. He was first elected in 2002.
caption: County-City Building in downtown South Bend.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D60", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Photos 1.0", "Image DateTime": "2015:07:30 19:35:48", "Image ExifOffset": "198", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:07:30 19:35:48", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:07:30 19:35:48", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "19/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "20", "EXIF SubSecTime": "60", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "60", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "60", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3872", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "30", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}