Editing Fairfield County, Connecticut (section)

==Government and municipal services==
As of 1960, counties in Connecticut do not have any associated county government structure. Thus Fairfield County is only a geographical point of reference. All municipal services are provided by the towns, who sometimes will share certain resources through regionalization. In order to address issues concerning more than one town, several regional agencies that help coordinate the towns for infrastructure, land use, and economic development concerns have been established. Within the geographical area of Fairfield County, the regional agencies are:

* Greater Bridgeport
* South Western
* The Valley (partly in New Haven County)
* Housatonic Valley (partly in Litchfield County)

===County municipal buildings===
Several former county municipal buildings are used by other state or local agencies, including:

* The Fairfield County Jail in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport]] on the corner of North Avenue and Madison Avenue, still actively used to house prisoners.
* The Fairfield County Court Houses in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport]] and [[Danbury, Connecticut|Danbury]] which served the county's judicial needs and housed county deputy sheriff's until December 2000. The court houses are still marked "Fairfield County Court House".

===Law enforcement===

Law enforcement within the geographic area of the county is provided by the respective town police departments, whereas in other states in the region such as New York and [[Vermont]] law enforcement would be provided by the local county sheriff's department. In the less dense areas, such as [[Sherman, Connecticut|Sherman]], law enforcement is primarily provided by the [[Connecticut State Police]]. Prior to 2000, a [[Fairfield County CT Sheriff Department|County Sheriff's Department]] existed for the purpose of executing judicial warrants, prisoner transport, court security, [[Bailiff#United States|Bailiff]], and county and state executions. These responsibilities have now been taken over by the [[Connecticut State Marshal System]].

Some municipalities in the county still maintain a sheriff's department to fill the void of the abolishment of the county sheriff's department, such as the [[Shelton, Connecticut|City of Shelton]] which has established the [[Shelton Sheriff's Department]] to carry out warrants in the city.

===Judicial===
The geographic area of the county is served by the three separate judicial districts: Danbury, Stamford-Norwalk, and Fairfield. Each judicial district has a superior court located, respectively, in Danbury, Stamford, and Bridgeport. Each judicial district has one or more geographical area courts ("GA"'s), subdivisions of the judicial districts that handle lesser cases such as criminal misdemeanors, small claims, traffic violations, and other civil actions.

===Fire protection===
Fire protection in the county is provided by the towns. Several towns also have [[special-purpose district|fire districts]] that provide services to a section of the town.

===Education===
{{expand section|date=July 2022}}
Education in the county is usually provided by the town governments. The exceptions are the towns of Redding and Easton at the secondary level, as those two joined to form a regional secondary school district (Region 9).

School districts include:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st09_ct/schooldistrict_maps/c09001_fairfield/DC20SD_C09001.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st09_ct/schooldistrict_maps/c09001_fairfield/DC20SD_C09001.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|title=2020 census - school district reference map: Fairfield County, CT|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|accessdate=July 22, 2022}} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st09_ct/schooldistrict_maps/c09001_fairfield/DC20SD_C09001_SD2MS.txt Text list]</ref>

K-12:
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Bethel School District (Connecticut)|Bethel School District]]
* [[Bridgeport School District (Connecticut)|Bridgeport School District]]
* [[Brookfield School District]]
* [[Danbury School District]]
* [[Darien School District]]
* [[Fairfield School District (Connecticut)|Fairfield School District]]
* [[Greenwich School District]]
* [[Monroe School District (Connecticut)|Monroe School District]]
* [[New Canaan School District]]
* [[New Fairfield School District]]
* [[Newtown School District]]
* [[Norwalk School District (Connecticut)|Norwalk School District]]
* [[Ridgefield School District (Connecticut)|Ridgefield School District]]
* [[Shelton School District (Connecticut)|Shelton School District]]
* [[Stamford School District]]
* [[Stratford School District (Connecticut)|Stratford School District]]
* [[Trumbull School District]]
* [[Weston School District]]
* [[Westport School District]]
* [[Wilton School District]]
{{div col end}}

Secondary:
* [[Regional High School District 09]]

Elementary:
* [[Easton School District]]
* [[Redding School District (Connecticut)|Redding School District]]
* [[Sherman School District]]

Private schools:
*[[Convent of the Sacred Heart (Connecticut)|Convent of the Sacred Heart]]
*[[Eagle Hill School]]
*[[Greenwich Academy]]
*[[Greenwich Country Day School]]
*[[Immaculate High School]]
*[[Japanese School of New York]] (Greenwich Japanese School)
*[[Stanwich School]]
*[[Whitby School]]
*[[Wooster School]]

Closed schools:
*[[Carmel Academy]]
*[[Curtis School for Boys]]

===Crime rate===
Fairfield County has a low crime index of 2050.2 (per 100,000 citizens) as well as a murder closure rate of over 70%.<ref>[http://www.dpsdata.ct.gov/dps/ucr/data/2012/Crime%20In%20Connecticut%20COMPLETE%202012.pdf Connecticut Department of Public Safety "]</ref> Several Governmental agencies, as well as private security contractors, have made note of Fairfield's low crime rates and the county currently has 6 cities and towns with a percentile safety index of 90% or higher compared to the rest of the continental United States (based on violent and property crimes).<ref>[http://www.safechoicesecurity.com/blog/safest-cities-connecticut Safe Choice Private Security Firm "]</ref>

===Politics===
As with neighboring Westchester County, Fairfield County was generally a Republican stronghold for much of the 20th century. Urban municipalities such as Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport trended Democratic, while the suburban and rural enclaves tended to lean Republican. However, during the 1990s, these latter areas began to increasingly shift towards Democratic candidates. Today, only Hartford County has a higher concentration of Democratic voters. The last time the county voted for a Republican presidential candidate was in 1992 for [[George H.W. Bush]].

{{PresHead|place=Fairfield County, Connecticut|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|first=David|last=Leip|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=May 26, 2017}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|178,263|267,019|7,021|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|169,039|297,505|6,446|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|160,077|243,852|17,280|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|175,168|217,294|3,668|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|167,736|242,936|3,069|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|189,605|205,902|5,460|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|159,659|193,769|16,861|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|144,632|172,337|35,258|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|175,158|160,202|74,050|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|221,316|149,630|3,932|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|257,319|132,253|1,607|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|201,997|124,074|42,027|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|209,458|148,353|2,413|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|233,188|125,128|6,050|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|173,108|139,364|21,820|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|125,576|194,782|261|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|167,778|146,442|6|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|199,841|84,890|0|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|167,278|106,403|1,812|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|118,636|90,767|7,669|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|103,693|99,181|2,423|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|91,190|93,688|829|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|67,846|87,329|8,088|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1932|Republican|72,238|64,367|8,092|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|71,410|55,491|1,047|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|58,041|18,815|10,788|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|55,251|24,761|3,101|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|25,962|20,873|1,442|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|13,147|15,663|12,893|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|24,064|14,917|1,812|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|23,490|15,796|1,063|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|21,317|15,455|560|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|24,489|9,726|1,848|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1892|Republican|16,190|16,125|1,156|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1888|Republican|15,549|14,984|848|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1884|Democratic|13,694|13,964|718|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1880|Democratic|12,009|12,063|108|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1876|Democratic|10,203|11,416|43|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1872|Democratic|8,401|8,515|0|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1868|Republican|8,613|8,234|0|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1864|Republican|7,368|7,193|0|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1860|Republican|7,025|3,177|5,890|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1856|Republican|6,233|5,539|928|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1852|Democratic|4,814|5,155|167|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1848|Whig|5,036|4,064|469|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1844|Whig|5,368|4,599|142|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1840|Whig|4,870|3,862|0|Connecticut}}
{{PresRow|1836|Democratic|2,317|2,711|0|Connecticut}}
|}