Section 11.5 Local Government

• Library: Local Government Deskbook (2017 Ed.)

3. (§11.5) Local Government

Local government, in one sense, can simply be defined as governmental units that are not part of the federal or state governments. Historically, the two basic forms of local government were the town and the county. The town form was predominant in the New England region where the terrain and economy favored small, compact settlements. The county form predominated in the south where the large-scale agricultural developments favored geographically larger units of government. Through the political development of local governments, towns (and later cities) became more independent from the state and more responsible for overseeing the well-being of their constituents. Meanwhile, counties became subsumed in the structure of the state government itself, becoming local subdivisions of the state charged with carrying out state policies on a local level.

According to the 2012 census, Missouri ranks seventh among the states in number of local governments with 3,768 active as of June 30, 2012.

In Missouri, counties are legal subdivisions of the State. Mo. Const. art. VI, § 1. There are currently 114 counties in the State, and the City of St. Louis, which is not within a county. Section 46.040, RSMo 2016. Counties in Missouri may be one of four classes based on...