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{{Use American English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
A '''county seat''' is an administrative center, [[seat of government]], or capital city of a [[county]] or [[parish (administrative division)|civil parish]]. The term is in use in five countries: [[Canada]], [[China]], [[Hungary]], [[Romania
▲A '''county seat''' is an administrative center, [[seat of government]], or capital city of a [[county]] or [[parish (administrative division)|civil parish]]. The term is in use in [[Canada]], [[China]], [[Hungary]], [[Romania]], [[Taiwan]], and the [[United States]]. The equivalent term '''shire town''' is used in the [[U.S. state|US state]] of [[Vermont]] and in some other English-speaking jurisdictions.<ref>[https://vtliving.com/vermontshires/ VT Shire Towns: Visiting The Shires of Vermont]</ref> [[County town]]s have a similar function in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as historically in Jamaica.{{cn|date=August 2023}}
==Function==▼
[[File:QACourthouse QueenstownMD.jpg|thumb|The old [[Queen Anne's County, Maryland|Queen Anne's County]] courthouse (1708), Maryland, US]]▼
In most of the United States, [[county (United States)|counties]] are the [[administrative division|political subdivisions]] of a state. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government is known as the '''seat''' of its respective county. Generally, the county legislature, county courthouse, sheriff's department headquarters, hall of records, jail and correctional facility are located in the county seat, though some functions (such as highway maintenance, which usually requires a large garage for vehicles, along with asphalt and salt storage facilities) may also be located or conducted in other parts of the county, especially if it is geographically large.▼
A county seat is usually, but not always, an incorporated [[municipality]]. The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as [[Arlington County, Virginia]] (where the county seat is the entire county<ref>{{cite web|title=Counties in Virginia and the Location of Their Seats of Government|url=http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/CommissiononLocalGovernment/PDFs/county.seats.pdf|publisher=Virginia Commission on Local Government|access-date=10 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113040156/http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/CommissiononLocalGovernment/PDFs/county.seats.pdf|archive-date=13 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>). [[Ellicott City, Maryland|Ellicott City]], the county seat of [[Howard County, Maryland]], is the largest unincorporated county seat in the United States, followed by [[Towson, Maryland|Towson]], the county seat of [[Baltimore County, Maryland]]. Likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, [[Cape May Court House, New Jersey]], though unincorporated, is a section of [[Middle Township, New Jersey|Middle Township]], an incorporated municipality. In some of the colonial states, county seats include or formerly included "Court House" as part of their name, (e.g. [[Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia]]).▼
==Canada==
In [[Canada]], the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provinces]] of [[Ontario]], [[Quebec]], [[New Brunswick]], [[Prince Edward Island]], and [[Nova Scotia]] have counties as an administrative division of government below the provincial level, and thus county seats. In the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia the term "shire town" is used in place of county seat.<ref>{{cite web |title=County Map of Nova Scotia |url=https://archives.novascotia.ca/maps/county/ |website=Nova Scotia Archives |access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title='What happened?' Long forgotten Dorchester wharf was once heart of shire town |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/roadside-history-james-upham-dorchester-wharf-new-brunswick-1.6724447 |website=CBC News |publisher=CBC |access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref>
==China==
{{Main|Counties of China}}
County seats in China are the administrative centers of the counties in the [[China|People's Republic of China]].▼
▲County seats in China are the administrative centers of the counties in the People's Republic of China.
''Xian'' have existed since the [[Warring States period]] and were set up nationwide by the [[Qin dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hsu |first=Cho-yun |translator-last1=Baker |translator-first1=Timothy D. Jr. |translator-last2=Duke |translator-first2=Michael S. |year=2012 |orig-year=2006 |title=China: A New Cultural History |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=102 |isbn=9780231159203}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Goodman |editor-first=David S.G. |year=2015 |title=Handbook of the Politics of China |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing Limited |page=159 |isbn=9781782544364}}</ref> The number of counties in [[China proper]] gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As [[Qin Shi Huang]] reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1,000. Under the Eastern [[Han dynasty]], the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when the [[Sui dynasty]] abolished the [[Commandery (China)|commandery]] level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties.
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{{Main|County (Taiwan)}}
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2023}}
[[File:苗栗縣政府 Miaoli County Government - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[Miaoli
In [[Taiwan]], the first counties were first established in 1661 by the [[Kingdom of Tungning]]. The later ruler [[Taiwan under Qing rule|Qing empire]] inherited this type of administrative divisions. With the increase of [[Han Chinese]] population in Taiwan, the number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. [[Protestant missions in China|Protestant missionaries]] in China first romanized the term as '''hien'''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davidson |first1=James W. |author-link=James W. Davidson |title=The Island of Formosa, Past and Present: History, People, Resources, and Commercial Prospects: Tea, Camphor, Sugar, Gold, Coal, Sulphur, Economical Plants, and Other Productions |year=1903 |publisher=Macmillan & Co. |url=https://archive.org/details/islandofformosap00davi |location=London and New York |ol=6931635M |page=[https://archive.org/details/islandofformosap00davi/page/93 93]}}</ref> When [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]] became a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese colony]] in 1895, the hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the [[Administrative divisions of Japan|Japanese system]] in the period when
By September 1945, Taiwan was divided into 8 [[prefectures of Japan|prefectures]] ({{lang|ja|州}} and {{lang|ja|廳}}), which remained after the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] took over.
▲[[File:苗栗縣政府 Miaoli County Government - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[Miaoli|Miaoli City]] is the county seat of [[Miaoli County]].]]
▲In Taiwan, the first counties were first established in 1661 by the [[Kingdom of Tungning]]. The later ruler [[Taiwan under Qing rule|Qing empire]] inherited this type of administrative divisions. With the increase of [[Han Chinese]] population in Taiwan, the number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. [[Protestant missions in China|Protestant missionaries]] in China first romanized the term as '''hien'''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davidson |first1=James W. |author-link=James W. Davidson |title=The Island of Formosa, Past and Present: History, People, Resources, and Commercial Prospects: Tea, Camphor, Sugar, Gold, Coal, Sulphur, Economical Plants, and Other Productions |year=1903 |publisher=Macmillan & Co. |url=https://archive.org/details/islandofformosap00davi |location=London and New York |ol=6931635M |page=[https://archive.org/details/islandofformosap00davi/page/93 93]}}</ref> When [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]] became a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese colony]] in 1895, the hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the [[Administrative divisions of Japan|Japanese system]] in the period when [[Taiwan was under Japanese rule]]. By September 1945, Taiwan was divided into 8 [[prefectures of Japan|prefectures]] ({{lang|ja|州}} and {{lang|ja|廳}}), which remained after the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] took over.
▲Currently there are 13 county seats in Taiwan, which are in the forms of [[county-administered city]], [[Township (Taiwan)|urban township]] or [[Township (Taiwan)|rural township]].
===Lists of county seats===
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==United States==
[[File:Allentown.jpg|thumb
[[File:Renville County Courthouse MN.jpg|thumb
▲===Function===
▲[[File:QACourthouse QueenstownMD.jpg|thumb|The old
▲In most of the [[United States]], a [[
▲A county seat is usually
===U.S. counties with more than one county seat===
Most counties have only one county seat.
There are 36 counties with multiple county seats
* [[Coffee County, Alabama]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coffeecounty.us/History.html|title=History of Coffee County|author=Coffee County, Alabama|access-date=19 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027140704/http://www.coffeecounty.us/History.html|archive-date=27 October 2011}}</ref><!-- NACo lists only one, but county website says there are two. -->
* [[St. Clair County, Alabama]]
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===Other variations===
====Alaska====▼
[[Alaska]] is divided into [[List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska|boroughs]] rather than counties; the county seat in these case is referred to as the "borough seat"; this includes six consolidated city-borough governments (one of which is styled as a "municipality"). The [[Unorganized Borough, Alaska]], which covers 49% of the state's area, has no borough government or borough seat. One borough, the [[Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska|Lake and Peninsula Borough]], has its borough seat located in another borough, namely [[King Salmon, Alaska|King Salmon]] in [[Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska|Bristol Bay Borough]].▼
====Louisiana====▼
In [[Louisiana]], which is divided into [[List of parishes in Louisiana|parishes]] rather than counties, county seats are referred to as
====New England====
In [[New England]], counties have served mainly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems. [[Rhode Island]] has no county level of government and thus no county seats, and [[Massachusetts]] has dissolved many but not all of its county governments.
In 2024, [[Connecticut]], which had not defined their counties for anything but statistical, historical and weather warning purposes since 1960, along with ending the use of county seats in particular, will fully transition with the permission of the [[United States Census Bureau]] to a system of [[Councils of governments in Connecticut|councils of government]] for the purposes of boundary definition and as county equivalents.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Proposed Change to County Equivalents in Connecticut|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/ct_county_equiv_change.pdf|website=US Census Bureau}}</ref>
====South Dakota====▼
Two counties in [[South Dakota]],
====Virginia====
In [[Virginia]], a county seat may be an [[independent city (United States)|independent city]] surrounded by, but not part of, the county of which it is the administrative center; for example, [[Fairfax, Virginia|Fairfax City]] is both the county seat of [[Fairfax County, Virginia]] and completely surrounded by Fairfax County, but the city is politically independent of the county. When the county seat is in the independent city, government offices such as the courthouse may be in the independent city under an agreement, such as in [[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle]], or may in be [[enclave and exclave|enclave]]s of the county surrounded by the independent city, such as in [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax]]. Others, such as [[Prince William County, Virginia|Prince William]], have the courthouse in an enclave surrounded by the independent city and have the county government, the Board of Supervisors, in a different part of the county, far from the county seat. The following counties have their county seat in an independent city:
*[[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle County]] ([[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]])
*[[Alleghany County, Virginia|Alleghany County]] ([[Covington, Virginia|Covington]])
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*[[Rockbridge County, Virginia|Rockbridge County]] ([[Lexington, Virginia|Lexington]])
*[[Rockingham County, Virginia|Rockingham County]] ([[Harrisonburg, Virginia|Harrisonburg]])
▲====South Dakota====
▲Two counties in [[South Dakota]] ([[Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota|Oglala Lakota]] and [[Todd County, South Dakota|Todd]]) have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county. Their county-level services are provided by [[Fall River County, South Dakota|Fall River County]] and [[Tripp County, South Dakota|Tripp County]], respectively.<ref name=Sdcounties>{{cite web |title=Shannon County, South Dakota |url=https://oglalalakota.sdcounties.org/ |website=Sdcounties.org |access-date=1 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425051054/https://oglalalakota.sdcounties.org/ |archive-date=25 April 2012}}</ref>
▲====Louisiana====
▲In [[Louisiana]], which is divided into [[List of parishes in Louisiana|parishes]] rather than counties, county seats are referred to as ''parish seats''.
▲====Alaska====
▲[[Alaska]] is divided into [[List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska|boroughs]] rather than counties; the county seat in these case is referred to as the "borough seat"; this includes six consolidated city-borough governments (one of which is styled as a "municipality"). The [[Unorganized Borough, Alaska]], which covers 49% of the state's area, has no borough government or borough seat. One borough, the [[Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska|Lake and Peninsula Borough]], has its borough seat located in another borough, namely [[King Salmon, Alaska|King Salmon]] in [[Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska|Bristol Bay Borough]].
===Lists of U.S. county seats by state===
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==See also==
* {{lang|fr|[[Administrative centre|Chef-lieu]]}}, administrative centres in [[Algeria]], [[Belgium]], [[France]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Switzerland]], and [[Tunisia]]
* [[County seat war]], disputes between towns in the formation of the United States
* [[County town]], administrative centres in
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
==External links==
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