Editing Alabama (section)

=== County and local governments ===
{{See also|List of counties in Alabama}}
{{Alabama County Labelled Map|align=right|width=300}}

Alabama has 67 [[county (United States)|counties]]. Each county has its own elected legislative branch, usually called the county commission. It also has limited executive authority in the county. Because of the constraints of the Alabama Constitution, which centralizes power in the state legislature, only seven counties (Jefferson, Lee, Mobile, Madison, Montgomery, Shelby, and Tuscaloosa) in the state have limited [[home rule]]. Instead, most counties in the state must lobby the Local Legislation Committee of the state legislature to get simple local policies approved, ranging from waste disposal to land use zoning.

The state legislature has retained power over local governments by refusing to pass a constitutional amendment establishing home rule for counties, as recommended by the 1973 Alabama Constitutional Commission.<ref name="home"/> Legislative delegations retain certain powers over each county. United States Supreme Court decisions in ''Baker v. Carr'' (1964) required that both houses have districts established on the basis of population, and redistricted after each census, to implement the principle of "one man, one vote". Before that, each county was represented by one state senator, leading to under-representation in the state senate for more urbanized, populous counties. The rural bias of the state legislature, which had also failed to redistrict seats in the state house, affected politics well into the 20th century, failing to recognize the rise of industrial cities and urbanized areas.

"The lack of home rule for counties in Alabama has resulted in the proliferation of local legislation permitting counties to do things not authorized by the state constitution. Alabama's constitution has been amended more than 700 times, and almost one-third of the amendments are local in nature, applying to only one county or city. A significant part of each legislative session is spent on local legislation, taking away time and attention of legislators from issues of statewide importance."<ref name="home">{{Cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1153 |title=Home Rule |first=Albert P. |last=Brewer |publisher=[[Encyclopedia of Alabama]] |access-date=February 4, 2015 |archive-date=February 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203220653/http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1153 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Alabama is an [[alcoholic beverage control state]], meaning the state government holds a monopoly on the sale of alcohol. The [[Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board]] controls the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the state. A total of 25 of the 67 counties are "[[Dry county|dry counties]]" which ban the sale of alcohol, and there are many dry municipalities in counties which permit alcohol sales.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://alabcboard.gov/licensing-compliance/wet-cities |title=Wet Cities |publisher=Alabama ABC Board |access-date=January 19, 2022 |archive-date=January 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119055341/https://alabcboard.gov/licensing-compliance/wet-cities |url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Rank !! County !! Population{{break}}(2019 Estimate) !! Population{{break}}(2010 Census) !! Seat !! Largest city
|+ Largest counties in Alabama by population
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| [[Jefferson County, Alabama|Jefferson]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 658,573
| style="text-align:center;"| 658,158
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Birmingham
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| [[Mobile County, Alabama|Mobile]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 413,210
| style="text-align:center;"| 412,992
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Mobile
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| [[Madison County, Alabama|Madison]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 372,909
| style="text-align:center;"| 334,811
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Huntsville
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| [[Montgomery County, Alabama|Montgomery]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 226,486
| style="text-align:center;"| 229,363
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Montgomery
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| [[Shelby County, Alabama|Shelby]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 217,702
| style="text-align:center;"| 195,085
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Columbiana, Alabama|Columbiana]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Hoover, Alabama|Hoover]] (part){{break}}[[Alabaster, Alabama|Alabaster]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 6
| [[Baldwin County, Alabama|Baldwin]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 223,234
| style="text-align:center;"| 182,265
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Bay Minette, Alabama|Bay Minette]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Daphne, Alabama|Daphne]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| [[Tuscaloosa County, Alabama|Tuscaloosa]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 209,355
| style="text-align:center;"| 194,656
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Tuscaloosa, Alabama|Tuscaloosa]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Tuscaloosa
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| [[Lee County, Alabama|Lee]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 164,542
| style="text-align:center;"| 140,247
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Opelika, Alabama|Opelika]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Auburn, Alabama|Auburn]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 9
| [[Morgan County, Alabama|Morgan]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 119,679
| style="text-align:center;"| 119,490
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Decatur, Alabama|Decatur]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Decatur
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 10
| [[Calhoun County, Alabama|Calhoun]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 113,605
| style="text-align:center;"| 118,572
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Anniston, Alabama|Anniston]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Anniston
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 11
| [[Houston County, Alabama|Houston]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 105,882
| style="text-align:center;"| 101,547
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Dothan, Alabama|Dothan]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Dothan
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 12
| [[Etowah County, Alabama|Etowah]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 102,268
| style="text-align:center;"| 104,303
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Gadsden, Alabama|Gadsden]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Gadsden
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 13
| [[Limestone County, Alabama|Limestone]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 98,915
| style="text-align:center;"| 82,782
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Athens, Alabama|Athens]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Athens
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 14
| [[Marshall County, Alabama|Marshall]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 96,774
| style="text-align:center;"| 93,019
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Guntersville, Alabama|Guntersville]]
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Albertville, Alabama|Albertville]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 15
| [[Lauderdale County, Alabama|Lauderdale]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 92,729
| style="text-align:center;"| 92,709
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Florence, Alabama|Florence]]
| style="text-align:center;"| Florence
|}