Editing California (section)

===Local government===
{{Main|Local government in California}}
[[File:San Francisco City Hall September 2013 panorama 3.jpg|left|thumb|[[San Francisco City Hall]] is the seat of government of the consolidated [[Government of San Francisco|City and County of San Francisco]].]]
California has an extensive system of local government that manages public functions throughout the state. Like most states, California is divided into [[County (United States)|counties]], of which there are 58 (including [[San Francisco]]) covering the entire state. Most urbanized areas are incorporated as [[city|cities]]. [[List of school districts in California|School districts]], which are independent of cities and counties, handle public education. Many other functions, such as fire protection and water supply, especially in [[unincorporated area]]s, are handled by [[Special-purpose district|special district]]s.

====Counties====
{{See also|List of counties in California}}

California is divided into [[List of counties in California|58 counties]]. Per Article 11, Section 1, of the [[Constitution of California]], they are the legal subdivisions of the state. The county government provides countywide services such as [[Law enforcement in California|law enforcement]], [[List of California county jails|jails]], elections and voter registration, vital records, property assessment and records, tax collection, public health, health care, social services, libraries, flood control, fire protection, animal control, agricultural regulations, building inspections, ambulance services, and education departments in charge of maintaining statewide standards.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baldassare |first=Mark |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=sDs4WZV0SRsC|page=67}} |title=When Government Fails: The Orange County Bankruptcy |date=1998 |publisher=[[Public Policy Institute of California]]/[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-21486-6 |pages=67–68 |lccn=97032806}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Janiskee |first1=Brian P. |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=23Y3Nxs0qWgC|page=105}} |title=Democracy in California: Politics and Government in the Golden State |last2=Masugi |first2=Ken |date=2011 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-1-4422-0338-9 |edition=3rd |page=105 |lccn=2011007585}}</ref> In addition, the county serves as the local government for all [[unincorporated area]]s. Each county is governed by an elected [[board of supervisors]].{{sfn|Baldassare|1998|p=50}}

====City and town governments====
{{see also|List of municipalities in California}}
[[File:Los Angeles City Hall 01 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[Los Angeles City Hall]], seat of the [[Government of Los Angeles]]]]
Incorporated cities and towns in California are either [[Charter city|charter]] or general-law municipalities.<ref name="Cal Gov Code 34502" /> General-law municipalities owe their existence to state law and are consequently governed by it; charter municipalities are governed by their own city or town charters. Municipalities incorporated in the 19th century tend to be charter municipalities. All ten of the state's most populous cities are charter cities. Most small cities have a [[Council–manager government|council–manager]] form of government, where the elected city council appoints a city manager to supervise the operations of the city. Some larger cities have a directly elected mayor who oversees the city government. In many council-manager cities, the city council selects one of its members as a mayor, sometimes rotating through the council membership—but this type of mayoral position is primarily ceremonial. The [[Government of San Francisco]] is the only [[consolidated city-county]] in California, where both the city and county governments have been merged into one unified jurisdiction.

====School districts and special districts====
{{See also|List of school districts in California}}
[[File:LAUSD HQ Bldg.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Los Angeles Unified School District]] is the [[List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment|second largest in the United States by enrollment]].]]
About 1,102 [[school district]]s, independent of cities and counties, handle California's [[public education]].<ref name="census2012p25" /> California school districts may be organized as elementary districts, high school districts, unified school districts combining elementary and high school grades, or community college districts.<ref name="census2012p25">{{Citation |title=Individual State Descriptions: 2007 |date=November 2012 |url=http://www2.census.gov/govs/cog/isd_book.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www2.census.gov/govs/cog/isd_book.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |pages=25–26 |series=2007 Census of Governments |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |ref={{harvid|Census|2007}}}}</ref>

There are about 3,400 [[special-purpose district|special districts]] in California.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mizany |first1=Kimia |url=http://www.waterplan.water.ca.gov/docs/cwpu2005/vol4/vol4-background-whatssospecialaboutspecialdistricts.pdf |title=What's So Special About Special Districts? A Citizen's Guide to Special Districts in California |last2=Manatt |first2=April |publisher=California Senate Local Government Committee |edition=3 |access-date=March 11, 2014 |archive-date=July 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704180433/http://www.waterplan.water.ca.gov/docs/cwpu2005/vol4/vol4-background-whatssospecialaboutspecialdistricts.pdf }}</ref> A [[Special-purpose district|special district]], defined by California Government Code § 16271(d) as "any agency of the state for the local performance of governmental or proprietary functions within limited boundaries", provides a limited range of services within a defined geographic area. The geographic area of a special district can spread across multiple cities or counties, or could consist of only a portion of one. Most of California's special districts are ''single-purpose districts'', and provide one service.