Editing Howard County, Indiana (section)

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

'''County Council:''' The county council is the legislative branch of the county government and controls all the spending and revenue collection in the county. Representatives are elected from county districts. The council members serve four-year terms. They are responsible for setting salaries, the annual budget, and special spending. The council also 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|author-link= Indiana Code|url= http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title3/ar10/ch2.pdf |format=PDF|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 is made of a board of commissioners. The commissioners are elected county-wide, in staggered terms, and each serves a four-year term. One of the commissioners, typically the most senior, serves as president. The commissioners are charged with executing the acts legislated by the council, collecting revenue, and managing the day-to-day functions of the county government.<ref name = inc3623/><ref name = inc2102/>

'''Court:''' The county maintains five courts. Circuit Court, Superior Court I, Superior Court II Superior Court III and Superior Court IV. The judge on the court is elected to a term of four years and must be admitted to practice law in the State of Indiana. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the Indiana Court of Appeals.

'''County Officials:''' The county has several other elected offices, including [[sheriff]], [[coroner]], [[auditor]], [[treasurer]], [[Recorder of deeds|recorder]], [[Surveying|surveyor]], and circuit [[court clerk]] Each of these elected officers serves a term of four years and oversees a different part of county government. Members elected to county government positions are required to declare [[political party|party]] affiliations and to be residents of the county.<ref name = inc2102/>

Howard County is part of [[Indiana's 2nd congressional district]] and [[Indiana's 5th congressional district]]; [[Indiana Senate]] districts 7 and 21;<ref>{{cite web
  |url=http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/3006.htm
  |title=Indiana Senate Districts
  |publisher=State of Indiana
  |access-date=July 14, 2011
}}</ref> and [[Indiana House of Representatives]] districts 30, 32 and 38.<ref>{{cite web
  |url=http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/3005.htm
  |title=Indiana House Districts
  |publisher=State of Indiana
  |access-date=July 14, 2011
}}</ref>

{{PresHead|place=Howard County, Indiana|source1=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=May 17, 2018}}</ref>|source2=<ref>The leading "other" candidate, [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]], received 2,184 votes, while Socialist candidate [[Eugene V. Debs|Eugene Debs]] received 1,107 votes, [[Prohibition Party|Prohibition]] candidate [[Eugene W. Chafin|Eugene Chafin]] received 453 votes, and [[Socialist Labor Party of America|Socialist Labor]] candidate [[Arthur E. Reimer|Arthur Reimer]] received 119 votes.</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|25,871|12,197|829|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|26,449|13,303|878|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|23,675|11,215|2,452|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|20,327|15,135|829|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|20,248|17,871|714|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|23,714|12,998|309|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|20,331|12,899|865|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|16,771|11,999|4,436|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|15,306|10,288|8,746|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|19,971|11,518|131|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|22,386|10,458|202|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|21,272|12,916|1,722|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|19,571|14,815|267|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|23,089|8,083|169|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|15,905|11,026|4,635|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|12,897|17,809|235|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|17,938|13,415|149|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|17,234|12,159|188|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|15,212|12,938|367|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|10,874|12,937|551|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|11,515|11,224|526|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|11,855|12,655|283|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|9,534|12,288|524|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|9,257|10,541|946|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|12,632|5,930|323|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|10,438|5,451|1,494|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|10,379|5,767|1,584|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|4,777|3,934|1,371|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|2,152|2,824|3,863|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|4,423|3,497|821|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|5,014|2,098|1,084|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|4,308|2,823|474|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|4,195|3,191|160|Indiana}}
{{PresRow|1892|Republican|3,576|2,331|1,092|Indiana}}
{{PresFoot|1888|Republican|3,604|2,202|316|Indiana}}