A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States subordinate to, and geographic divisions of, a county (United States) Specific responsibilities and the degree of Wiktionary:autonomy vary based on each U.S. state Civil townships are distinct from Survey township but in states that have both, the boundaries often coincide. The U.S. Census Bureau classifies civil townships (called "towns" in New England town Political subdivisions of New York State#Town and Political subdivisions of Wisconsin#Town as minor civil division . Township functions are generally attended to by a governing board (the name varies from state to state) and a clerk or trustee. Township officers frequently include justice of the peace Numbered highways in the United States assessor (property) constable and surveying In the 20th century many townships also added a township Administrator of the Government or supervisor to the officers as an executive (government) for the board. In some cases townships run local library senior citizen services, youth services, disabled citizen services, emergency assistance, and even cemetery services.

Midwestern, central and western states

File:Meridians-baselines.png ] File:Madison Township Hall.jpg Richland County, Ohio Ohio ] Most western states have only survey townships, so that all local government outside of incorporated municipalities is performed at the county level. In the state of Kansas some civil townships provide services such as Road Maintenance and Fire Protection Services not provided by the county. In the Upper Midwest rn states near the Great Lakes civil townships (known in Michigan as general law townshipslt;/ref>) are often, but not always, overlaid on the survey townships. The degree to which these townships are functioning governmental entities varies from state to state and in some cases even within a state. For example, Illinois townships in the northern part of the state are active in providing public services — such as road maintenance, after-school care, and senior services — whereas townships in southern Illinois frequently abandon these services in favor of the county. In contrast, civil townships in Indiana are operated in a relatively consistent manner state-wide and tend to be well organized, with each served by a Township Trustee and a three-member board. Most townships in Illinois also provide services such as snow removal, senior transportation and emergency services to households residing in unincorporated parts of the county. Civil townships in these states are generally not considered to be municipality and nearby cities may annexation land in adjoining townships with relative ease. In Michigan, general law townships can incorporate as charter township , a status intended to protect against annexation from nearby municipalities and which grants the township some home rule powers similar to cities. In Wisconsin such regions are known as "Political subdivisions of Wisconsin#Town rather than townships, but they are essentially the same thing. In Minnesota state statute refers to such entities as towns yet requires them to have a name in the form "NameTownship". In both documents and conversation, "town" and "township" are used interchangeably. Minnesota townships can be either Non-urban township or Urban township (giving the township government greater power), but this is not reflected in the townships name.lt;/ref> Ohio law includes a provision by which land may exist dually within a city (or village) and township;lt;/ref> in such cases, property owners pay taxes for both the township and municipality.lt;/ref> Ten other states also allow townships and municipalities to overlap.lt;/ref> See also:[[Political subdivisions of Wisconsin]]

Pennsylvania and New Jersey

A Township (Pennsylvania) is a unit of local government, responsible for services such as police departments, local road and street Maintenance, repair and operations They act the same as cities or borough . Townships were established based on convenient geographical boundaries and vary in size from six to fifty-two square miles(10–135 km²). Township (New Jersey) is a form of municipal government equal in status to a Village (New Jersey) Town (New Jersey) Borough (New Jersey) or City (New Jersey)

Northeastern states

lt;!-- This section is linked from Hale's Location, New Hampshire --> In New England and New York county are further subdivided into towns and city the principal forms of local government. These states use the term town instead of township The settlement patterns of these towns are more like civil townships than "towns" as that term is generally understood in most of the United States. However, New England and New York towns are incorporated municipalities. Some residents of these states do not generally recognize the word "township" as applying to their local governments, although the U.S. Census Bureau treats them identically. (Even though towns in these states are legally equal to cities in status, the Census is more concerned with patterns of settlement and development than the means of government; New England and New York towns are similar to townships in the northern Midwest in typically having one or more small built-up central districts surrounded by a much larger area of less intensive development. However, cities in New England may have this development pattern as well.) In sparsely settled portions of New Hampshire Vermont and, especially, Maine county subdivisions that are not incorporated are referred to as townships, or by other terms such as gore, grant, location, plantation, or purchase. See also: [[Political subdivisions of New York]]

Southern states

File:Map of Person County North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels.PNG with typical Municipal and Township organization]] In Southern United States outside of cities and towns there is generally no local government other than the county. North Carolina is no exception to that rule, but it does have townships as minor geographical subdivisions of counties, including both unincorporated territory and also land within the bounds of incorporated cities and towns (as well as the extraterritorial jurisdiction of municipalities). Every county is divided into townships as wikt:mandate since the North Carolina Constitution of 1868. Some urbanization counties such as Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (Charlotte, North Carolina now number their townships (i.e. "Township 12") rather than using names. Townships all over the state used to have some official organization and duties but now are only considered ceremonial divisions of each county. Township names are still used quite extensively at the county government level in North Carolina as a way of determining and dividing up areas for administrative purposes; primarily for collecting county taxes, determining fire districts, for real estate purposes such as categorizing land deeds, Cadastre and other real estate document , and for voter registration purposes. In most areas of North Carolina that are outside of any municipal limit (outside cities or towns), townships are used to determine voter polling places, and in most instances county election boards divide up their voter precincts by township. However, there is no government per se at the township level in North Carolina, and there are no elected or appointed offices associated with townships. Survey townships exist in Alabama Arkansas Florida Louisiana and Mississippi

See also

* Township (United States) * Survey township * Charter township * County (United States) * Political divisions of the United States * Minor civil division * Hundred (country subdivision) * Township for other divisions called "township" * Unorganized territory * List of subnational entities * Civil parish or community council - The United Kingdom equivalent of a civil township

Notes

External links

* http://www.natat.org/ National Association of Towns and Townships] * http://www.census.gov/geo/www/GARM/Ch8GARM.pdf Chapter 8: County Subdivisions], U.S. Census Bureau, Geographic Areas Reference Manual (PDF) Category:Townships of the United States Category:Administrative divisions ja:郡区 (アメリカ合衆国) ru:Тауншипы США