Inspired by another thread: what exactly is a county seat?

[cpzilliacus]

Based on the above, it appears that while a township is a form of incorporation, it does not incorporate the localities within. I think semantics are getting in the way at this point. It does solidify my concept of what a township is.

I have always found townships to be curious entities, since they do not exist in Maryland and Virginia. 

A friend explained to me that every square centimeter of Pennsylvania is within a municipality of some sort, either a township, borough, city or town (and thus (as I understand it) everything is incorporated).

As an aside, the City of Philadelphia is the only municipality in Penn's Woods that covers exactly the same land area as a county.

[bulldog1979]

Based on the above, it appears that while a township is a form of incorporation, it does not incorporate the localities within. I think semantics are getting in the way at this point. It does solidify my concept of what a township is.

I have always found townships to be curious entities, since they do not exist in Maryland and Virginia. 

A friend explained to me that every square centimeter of Pennsylvania is within a municipality of some sort, either a township, borough, city or town (and thus (as I understand it) everything is incorporated).

As an aside, the City of Philadelphia is the only municipality in Penn's Woods that covers exactly the same land area as a county.

The same holds for Michigan. The seat of Leelanau County was moved to a rural section of Suttons Bay Township from the unincorporated community of Leland. The move centralized the county offices between Leland and the village of Suttons Bay.

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=10690.0

The obvious answer is at http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/CountySeats.aspx but it's not clear that's correct. 

I used to live in Jefferson Parish, LA - certain East Bank business had to be conducted at the parish offices in Jefferson - you couldn't go to Gretna even if it was easier to get the ferry. 

Also it appears Ascension Parish is in a similar situation with Donaldsonville (West Bank) and Gonzales (East Bank).

I haven't been back since before Katrina but I see a lot of Plaquemines business is conducted at Belle Chasse rather than Pointe a la Hache. 

Virginia has a number of oddball cases too...Augusta County has Verona for county business....maybe it uses Staunton's courthouses though.  So far as I can figure Henrico hasn't used Richmond's courthouses in years....county seat should be Henrico. 

Technically speaking, the definition of parish/county seat can be either is where the county or parish legislative body has its meeting chambers, or where the district courthouse sits.  Parish/county governmental offices can be anywhere within the jurisdiction. In Jefferson and Ascension, the parish councils actually have meeting chambers in places on both sides of the river, but the courts (the state courts, not parish courts) are still located in the official parish seat. In Plaquemines, the official seat has been de facto abandoned due to a combination of a courthouse fire (2002), natural disaster (2005), and population shifts to the west side of the river.

[Brandon]

Based on the above, it appears that while a township is a form of incorporation, it does not incorporate the localities within. I think semantics are getting in the way at this point. It does solidify my concept of what a township is.

I have always found townships to be curious entities, since they do not exist in Maryland and Virginia. 

Townships, as they are in the Midwest, are not incorporated places.  In some states such as Wisconsin and Michigan, they can become somewhat incorporated (Wisconsin Towns and Michigan Charter Townships).  Usually, they are at the mercy of both counties (which oversee them) and municipalities.

For example, in Illinois, a municipality (city or village) can annex parts of townships without any consent from either the township or the county (some cases require consent from the state - state trails, state property).  They only need the consent of the property owner in most cases.  In some cases, they can forcibly annex an unincorporated area.  They can also annex through a forest preserve without annexing the forest preserve, as well as strip parcels such as utility ROWs and railroad ROWs.

This link: http://law.justia.com/codes/illinois/2005/chapter14/13164.html has the statutes for annexation, but pay very close attention to the population level limits for the county or municipality in question.

[Road Hog]

In Arkansas, counties are subdivided into townships, but they are little more than voting precincts or boundaries of rural fire department districts. They also allow for the election of constables, but few do run.

[wxfree]

In Texas, county seats are set by election.  Under the constitution, county seats near the center of the county are favored.  A seat within 5 miles of the center of the county can be removed only by a two-thirds vote, while a county seat farther than 5 miles from the center can be replaced by a county seat within 5 miles of the center by a majority vote.  Moving a county seat farther than 5 miles from the center to another place more than 5 miles from the center is not addressed.

Incorporation is not a factor.  Kenedy, Loving, and Terrell Counties, as well as others, have no incorporated cities, but have county seats.  Some counties have an incorporated city but the county seat is unincorporated; these include Palo Pinto, Jeff Davis, and Hudspeth.  I suspect that Valentine and Dell City incorporated because of feeling neglected by the county government centered far away (as an [un]interesting fact, I have the 1984 State Department of Highways and Public Transportation atlas, and the Jeff Davis County map shows Valentine as a city, but with the label "inactive;" I don't know what that means).  Bowie County has an interesting county seat.  The seat was once Texarkana, but it was moved to an unincorporated place near the center of the county, by a majority vote.  That's how we got Old Boston.  When the county seat was moved, the nearby town of Boston mostly moved there, taking the name, and those left behind called the town Old Boston.  The incorporated city of New Boston annexed the town of Boston, but since county seats can be moved only by elections, the seat is still Boston, a town which no longer exists, except as a legal technicality.  The Bowie County courthouse is now located near I-30, in New Boston about 2 miles away from the neighborhood that was once Boston.

[hbelkins]

In Arkansas, counties are subdivided into townships, but they are little more than voting precincts or boundaries of rural fire department districts. They also allow for the election of constables, but few do run.

Arkansas is also one of those states where there can be two county seats.

For those who don't consider a county visited for county-counting purposes unless they visit the county seat, does either city count in a county with more than one county seat? Or do you have to visit both towns?