County executive


A County executive, County manager or County mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county.
The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a voting member of the elected county government, or may have veto power similar to other elected executives such as a governor, president or mayor. When appointed, the executive is usually hired for a specific period of time, but frequently can be dismissed prior to this. The position of an appointed county executive is analogous to that of a city manager, and is similar to a chief administrative officer, depending on the state. The executive is generally given full responsibility for the total operation of all departments based on general directives provided by the elected county government that hired the executive.

States with county executives

The title for a person holding this position is "County Executive" in many states but other titles are used, including County Judge, County Judge/Executive in Kentucky, and Mayor in some counties, and County Mayor in Hawaii and Tennessee.
StateCountiesApplicable law
AlaskaAleutians East, Anchorage Municipality, Bristol Bay, Denali, Fairbanks North Star, Haines, Juneau, Kenai Peninsula, Ketchikan Gateway, Kodiak Island, Lake and Peninsula, Matanuska-Susitna, North Slope, Northwest Arctic, Sitka, Skagway, Wrangell, Yakutat Alaska State Constitution, Article X
ArkansasTitle is "county judge" in all counties
CaliforniaLos Angeles , Orange , Sacramento, Santa Clara
DelawareNew Castle
GeorgiaAthens-Clarke , DeKalb
IllinoisWill
KentuckyCounties are headed by an elected executive known as the County Judge/Executive.Kentucky Constitution, Section 144
MarylandAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Cecil,Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's, Wicomico
MichiganBay, Macomb, Oakland, WayneOptional Unified Form of County Government, Charter Counties
MissouriJefferson Jackson St. Charles St. Louis
New JerseyAtlantic County Executive Bergen County Executive, Essex County Executive, Hudson County Executive, and Mercer County Executive are elected county executives; Union County has an appointed county manager.Optional County Charter Law
New YorkAlbany, Broome, Chautauqua, Chemung, Dutchess, Erie, Monroe,Montgomery, Nassau, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Schenectady , Suffolk, Ulster, Westchester County ExecutiveMunicipal Home Rule Law
OhioCuyahoga, SummitAlternative County Government Law
PennsylvaniaAllegheny, Erie, Lehigh, NorthamptonHome Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law
TennesseeState law provides that counties are headed by an elected county executive who uses the title of "county mayor." Exceptions are the three counties that have consolidated city-county government, where the position is not used, and certain counties where a private act of the state legislature authorizes the executive to use the previous title of "county executive." Historically, the position was called "county judge."Tennessee Code Annotated 5-6-101
TexasTitle is "county judge" or "County administrator" in all counties
UtahSalt Lake
VirginiaAlbemarle, Fairfax, Prince WilliamCode of Virginia Title 15.2 Chapters 5-8
WashingtonKing, Pierce, Snohomish, Whatcom
WisconsinBrown, Dane, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Portage, Racine, Waukesha, WinnebagoWisconsin Constitution, Article IV, sections 23 and 23a