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    Texas Counties 101

    Across the state, 254 counties serve the needs of more than 28 million Texans.

    Outreach Tools

    Texas County Officials

    Woman speaking to county officials

    County officials are your neighbors - they pay the same taxes you pay and drive the same roads you do.

    Neighbors Serving Neighbors

    It’s a good system that leaves your neighbors in charge of the decisions that determine how much you pay in taxes to support your roads, your court system, your local criminal law enforcement and your public records, including the records establishing property ownership and those documenting you and your family's most important milestones - including births, marriages and deaths.

    Public Transparency

    County officials live in a fishbowl. County financial records are available for public inspection and county commissioners court meetings are open to the public. County officials expect to respond to your opinions, ideas and questions about local government, whether it's during office hours or when you run into them at church, the grocery story or the local football game. People talk a lot about transparency; county officials live it.

    County government is not only government by the people and government for the people, it is government among the people.

    Accountable to Voters

    In Texas, county government delivers services through a variety of elected officials rather than through one central authority. The Texas Constitution provides a checks and balances system in which none of the county’s elected officials is controlled by any other elected official; they answer only to the voters.

    Texas County Officials’ Duties

    Take in-depth look at the required duties of each county office.

    Texas Counties Deliver

    Improving the public’s understanding of the value of county government and the essential services it provides Texans.