Editing Connecticut (section)

===Local government===
{{Main|Local government in Connecticut}}
{{See also|List of counties in Connecticut|Councils of governments in Connecticut|List of municipalities in Connecticut|Borough (Connecticut)}}
[[File:Planning Regions of Connecticut.png|thumb|Planning Regions of Connecticut]]

Connecticut does not have [[County (United States)|county]] government, unlike all other states except [[Rhode Island]]. Connecticut county governments were mostly eliminated in 1960, with the exception of [[Sheriffs in the United States|sheriffs]] elected in each county.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sots.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3188&q=392376 |website=State Register and Manual |publisher=State of Connecticut |title=Section VI: Counties |access-date=October 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906001437/http://www.sots.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3188&q=392376 |archive-date=September 6, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2000, the county sheriff was abolished and replaced with the [[Connecticut State Marshal|state marshal]] system, which has districts that follow the old county territories. The judicial system is divided into judicial districts at the trial-court level which largely follow the old county lines.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jud.ct.gov/directory/directory/location/Default.htm |title=Judicial District Courts Staff Directory |website=State of Connecticut Judicial Branch |access-date=July 25, 2010 |archive-date=August 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812060541/http://www.jud.ct.gov/directory/directory/location/Default.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[list of Connecticut counties|eight counties]] are still widely used for purely geographical and statistical purposes, such as [[Weather forecasting|weather reports]] and census reporting, although the latter will cease using the counties in 2024.

The state is divided into nine regional [[Councils of governments in Connecticut|councils of government]] defined by the state Office of Planning and Management, which facilitate regional planning and coordination of services between member towns.<ref name="OPM-2">{{Cite web|url = http://www.ct.gov/opm/cwp/view.asp?q=383046|title = Regional Councils of Governments (RCOGs) in Connecticut|date = 2015|access-date = September 15, 2015|website = CT.gov|publisher = Office of Policy and Management|archive-date = September 17, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150917200410/http://www.ct.gov/opm/cwp/view.asp?q=383046|url-status = live}}</ref><!--, with the exception of the Town of Stafford in Tolland County.<ref name="OPM">{{cite web |url=http://www.ct.gov/opm/cwp/view.asp?a=2985&q=383124 |title=Regional Planning Coordination |website=Office of Policy and Management |publisher=State of Connecticut |access-date=July 25, 2010}}</ref>--> The Intragovernmental Policy Division of this Office coordinates regional planning with the administrative bodies of these regions. Each region has an administrative body made up chief executive officers of the member towns. The regions are established for the purpose of planning "coordination of regional and state planning activities; redesignation of logical planning regions and promotion of the continuation of regional planning organizations within the state; and provision for technical aid and the administration of financial assistance to regional planning organizations".<ref name="OPM-2"/> By 2015, the State of Connecticut recognized COGs as [[county equivalent]]s, allowing them to apply for funding and grants made available to county governments in other states. In 2019 the state recommended to the [[United States Census Bureau]] that the nine Councils of Governments replace its counties for statistical purposes.<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> This proposal was approved by the Census Bureau in 2022, and will be fully implemented by 2024.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Announces-Census-Bureau-Approves-Proposal-for-Planning-Regions |title=Governor Lamont Announces U.S. Census Bureau Approves Proposal for Connecticut's Planning Regions To Become County Equivalents |publisher=The Office of Governor Ned Lamont |date=June 6, 2022 |access-date=March 24, 2023}}</ref>

Connecticut shares with the rest of [[New England]] a governmental institution called the [[New England town]]. The state is divided into 169 towns which serve as the fundamental political jurisdictions.<ref name="AboutCT"/> There are also 21 cities,<ref name="AboutCT"/> most of which simply follow the boundaries of their namesake towns and have a merged city-town government. There are two exceptions: the [[Groton (city), Connecticut|City of Groton]], which is a subsection of the [[Groton (town), Connecticut|Town of Groton]], and the City of [[Winsted, Connecticut|Winsted]] in the Town of [[Winchester, Connecticut|Winchester]]. There are also nine incorporated [[Borough (Connecticut)|boroughs]] which may provide additional services to a section of town.<ref name="AboutCT"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Town Elections, Boroughs in Connecticut with Date of Incorporation |website=Secretary of the State |publisher=State of Connecticut |date=June 19, 2013 |url=http://www.sots.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3188&q=392430#CITIES_IN_CONNECTICUT_WITH_DATE_OF_INCORPORATION |access-date=October 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908155417/http://www.sots.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3188&q=392430#CITIES_IN_CONNECTICUT_WITH_DATE_OF_INCORPORATION |archive-date=September 8, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Naugatuck]] is a consolidated town and borough.