Editing Starke County, Indiana (section)

==Government==
{{See also|Government of Indiana}}
The county government is a constitutional body, granted specific powers by the [[Constitution of Indiana]] and the [[Indiana Code]].

'''County Council:''' The county council is the legislative branch of the county government and controls spending and revenue collection in the county. Representatives are elected from county districts to four-year terms. They are responsible for setting salaries, the annual budget, and special spending. The council has limited authority to impose local taxes, in the form of an income and property tax that is subject to state level approval, excise taxes, and service taxes.<ref name=inc3623>{{cite web|author=Indiana Code|author-link=Indiana Code|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title36/ar2/ch3.html|title=Title 36, Article 2, Section 3|access-date=September 16, 2008|publisher=IN.gov}}</ref><ref name=inc2102>{{cite web|author=Indiana Code|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title3/ar10/ch2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041227171739/http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title3/ar10/ch2.pdf |archive-date=December 27, 2004 |url-status=live|title=Title 2, Article 10, Section 2|access-date=September 16, 2008|publisher=IN.gov}}</ref>

'''Board of Commissioners:''' The executive body of the county, the commissioners are elected county-wide to staggered four-year terms. One commissioner serves as president. The commissioners execute the acts legislated by the council, collect revenue, and manage the functions of the county government.<ref name=inc3623/><ref name=inc2102/>

'''Court:''' The judge on the court is elected to a term of six years. The judge is assisted by a magistrate who is appointed by the judge. The court handles criminal and civil cases, and has a small-claims division. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the state-level [[circuit court]].<ref name=inc2102/>

'''County officials:''' The county has other elected offices, including [[sheriff]], [[coroner]], [[auditor]], [[treasurer]], [[Recorder of deeds|recorder]], [[Surveying|surveyor]], and circuit [[court clerk]], elected to four-year terms. Members elected to county government positions are required to declare [[political party|party]] affiliations and to be residents of the county.<ref name=inc2102/>

Starke County is part of [[Indiana's 2nd congressional district]] in the [[United States House of Representatives]] and is currently represented by Rudy Yakym.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rudy Yakym |url=https://yakym.house.gov/ |website=Rudy Yakym |publisher=United States House of Representatives}}</ref>

In presidential elections, Starke County was a [[List of election bellwether counties in the United States|bellwether county]] for a time, voting for the winner in every election from 1964 to 2008.
{{PresHead|place=Starke County, Indiana|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Atlas of US Presidential Elections|first=David|last=Leip|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=April 11, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|7,889|2,436|153|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|7,466|2,650|193|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|6,367|2,489|460|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|4,738|3,809|222|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|4,473|4,778|228|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|4,846|3,987|104|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|4,349|4,136|216|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|3,108|3,854|1,188|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|3,100|3,695|1,963|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|4,458|4,104|44|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|5,104|3,674|111|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|5,035|3,615|460|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|4,354|4,753|134|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|5,520|2,994|53|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|4,011|3,208|1,146|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|3,466|4,838|17|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|4,592|3,995|32|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|5,063|3,349|35|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|4,871|3,274|51|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|3,518|3,312|130|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|3,574|2,791|50|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|3,473|2,917|22|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|2,846|3,143|43|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|2,449|3,420|141|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|2,759|2,016|38|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|2,329|1,555|510|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|2,683|1,467|114|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|1,550|1,334|85|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|787|1,208|805|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|1,521|1,305|89|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|1,523|1,134|139|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|1,340|1,315|49|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|1,289|1,214|24|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|850|1,003|64|Indiana}}
{{PresFoot|1888|Democratic|834|904|28|Indiana}}