Florida

The Sheriff.—The most important executive officer of the county is the sheriff. This office is a very ancient one, though it has lost much of its former dignity and importance. The sheriff is elected by the people of the county, in all of the states except Rhode Island (where he is chosen by the state legislature), for a term ranging from one to four years, the most usual term being two years. The sheriff is usually assisted by a number of deputies, who are either regularly employed by him or especially summoned in case of emergencies. He is the general conservator of the peace of the county and is charged with attending the court as its executive officer and with carrying out its orders, whether it be to sell property for nonpayment of taxes, to seize and sell property in execution of a judgment, or to hang a convicted criminal. He has the power, and it is his duty, to arrest offenders and commit them to the jail, of which he is usually the custodian, and to this end he may summon to his aid the posse comitatus, which consists of the able-bodied male citizens of the county. In case of serious disturbance and riot he may call on the governor for the aid of the militia. He must exercise reasonable care for the safe-keeping of prisoners in his custody, and in some states he may be removed from office by the governor for negligence in protecting them against mob violence. In some of the Southern states he is ex officio tax collector and in some he is also ex officio public administrator. Other duties of a special nature are imposed upon sheriffs in different states.

The Coroner.—Next to the sheriff among county officers in point of origin is the coroner, whose principal duty is to hold inquests upon the bodies of persons who are supposed to have died from violence or other unlawful means. In such cases it is the duty of the coroner to impanel a jury, usually of six persons, who from the testimony of witnesses, if there are such, and with the aid of a physician or other expert, decide the facts as to how the deceased met his death. A coroner's inquest, however, is not a trial but merely an inquiry into the circumstances of the death. By an old common-law rule, the coroner usually succeeds to the office of sheriff in case the latter dies or for any other reason is disqualified from acting.

County Clerk.—Usually in every county there is an official called the county clerk, who in most states serves both as the clerk of the county board of commissioners, and as clerk of the county court and of the circuit court. In the former capacity he keeps a record of the proceedings of the meeting of the board. His books must contain a record of all bids for the erection of county buildings, of all contracts let, notices of elections ordered, licenses granted, roads laid out or changed, and indeed of all transactions of the board. As clerk of the court he must prepare and keep the docket of all cases for trial and of the judgments entered, issue processes and writs, certify to the accuracy of transcripts from the records of the court, and keep all papers and records of the court. In Pennsylvania and Delaware the clerk of the common pleas court is known as a "prothonotary"; in Massachusetts the clerks of the probate courts are styled "registers of probate."

In a few states these two sets of duties are intrusted to different officials, one of whom is styled the county clerk and the other the clerk of the court. Usually the county clerk is also an election officer, being charged with the giving of notices of elections, the preparation of ballots, and the keeping of election records. County clerks are usually elected by the people of the county for a period ranging from one to four years, and reëlection is much more frequent than is the case with other county officials, because of the greater need of experience and familiarity with the duties of the office.[4]

County Treasurer.—An important county officer is the treasurer, who receives and has custody of the state and county taxes, though in a few states having the county system of local government there are special tax collectors, and, as we have seen, in some of them these duties are performed by the sheriff.[5] Nearly everywhere the office is filled by popular election, though in a few states treasurers are chosen by the county board or appointed by the governor. On account of the large sums of money often intrusted to their keeping, they are usually placed under heavy bond to insure the state and county against loss in case of defalcation or other misapplication of the funds in their charge. County treasurers frequently deposit the public funds in local banks and retain for themselves the interest which they receive therefrom. Recently the treasurer of Cook county, Illinois, agreed before his election to turn over to the county all interest received by him on county funds deposited in banks, and in 1904 nearly half a million dollars was thus paid into the county treasury by him.

County Auditor.—In a number of states the office of county auditor has been provided. Generally he keeps the accounts of the county, so as to show the receipts and expenditures of the public moneys, and issues warrants upon the treasurer for the payment of bills authorized by the county board. In some states his duties are limited merely to an examination of the accounts of county officers to see that they have been properly kept and that there has been no misapplication of public funds.

Recorder of Deeds.—In all the states there are officials charged with keeping records of certain legal documents such as deeds, mortgages, and leases. They are designated by different names, the most usual being register of deeds or recorder of deeds. They make exact copies of the instruments to be recorded, enter them in large books, and keep indexes by which such instruments can be readily found. In some states these duties are performed by the county clerk. The importance of the office is evident because upon the careful preservation and accuracy of the records must depend in many cases our rights to property.

School Officers.—In the states outside New England there is usually a county superintendent or commissioner of schools and in most of the Southern states a county school board. In a large majority of the states the county superintendent is elected by the people, though in a few he is appointed by the governor, elected by the local school boards, or chosen in other ways. The principal duties of the superintendent of schools are to examine teachers, issue certificates to teach, visit the schools, organize teachers' institutes, give advice on educational matters to teachers and school trustees, make reports to the state superintendent of public education, sometimes decide questions appealed to him from the district trustees, and in general watch over and promote the educational interests of the county. County school boards in the South establish schools as do the town school committees and school district boards in other states.

Other County Officials are the surveyor, who makes surveys of land upon the application of private owners, prepares plats, and keeps records of the same; superintendent or overseers of the poor, who have charge of almshouses, hospitals, and poor farms where they belong to the county; health officers or boards of health, whose duties are indicated by