Government
From Sustaining Jackson Hole Wiki
Teton County is governed at four different levels: municipal, county, state and federal.
At the local level, the Town of Jackson is the county’s only incorporated municipality. The Teton County government oversees the entire county, both the incorporated and unincorporated parts. Counties and municipalities have differing authority and mandates under state law.
Teton County, like counties throughout Wyoming, is considered a political subdivision of state government. State law requires counties to perform a certain range of functions not required of incorporated municipalities. For example, counties must oversee law enforcement in accordance with state laws, collect state taxes in the county, build and maintain roads to state standards, and provide health services in conjunction with the state department of health.
State law also requires that many county administrative posts be held by elected officers, and charges those public officials with a specific range of duties. For example, the county assessor must perform property tax assessments, the elections supervisor must carry out elections, and the county commissioners must make all day-to-day decisions about county government operations. Finally, counties cannot pass their own laws; they must enforce state laws. However, they do have authority under state law to create their own land-use and zoning regulations.
Municipalities, on the other hand, are essentially corporate entities that have the ability under state law to oversee the affairs of an incorporated area. A geographic area can choose to incorporate, and does so if a majority of its residents vote in favor of incorporation.
While state law governs the powers granted to municipalities like the Town of Jackson, such incorporated entities have much more freedom to decide what services they will provide and how those services are administered – a concept known as home rule. For example, elected town councils can choose whether or not to build or maintain roads within their municipality, and if they do, whether to meet state road standards (though they often choose to do so).
Town councils also have more authority over how to organize the administrative structure of their municipality is organized, and they can choose to delegate more authority over day-to-day affairs to their appointed administrators. In addition, municipalities can pass their own laws – ordinances – as long as they don’t come into conflict with state laws. Of note is the fact that, in most cases when the home rule concept has been pitted against state law, the Wyoming Supreme Court has sided with the state.
State and federal government also play important roles in the lives of Teton County residents regarding issues such as education, land and wildlife management, employment services, and health and family services, among others. Local residents have a voice through elected representatives in the Wyoming Legislature and the U.S. Congress, which set policy and enact laws.
Sources: Town of Jackson, Teton County, State of Wyoming,U.S. Government
