County
Cities
El Dorado County
Placerville
South Lake Tahoe
Types of Counties
The California Constitution recognizes two types of counties:
general law counties and charter counties. General law counties
adhere to state law as to the number and duties of county
elected officials. Charter counties, on the other hand, have a
limited degree of "home rule" authority that may provide for the
election, compensation, terms, removal, and salary of the
governing board; for the election or appointment (except the
sheriff, district attorney, and assessor who must be elected),
compensation, terms, and removal of all county officers; for the
powers and duties of all officers; and for consolidation and
segregation of county offices. A charter does not give county
officials extra authority over local regulations,
revenue-raising abilities, budgetary decisions, or
intergovernmental relations.
A county may adopt, amend, or repeal a charter with majority
vote approval. A new charter or the amendment or repeal of an
existing charter may be proposed by the Board of Supervisors, a
charter commission, or an initiative petition. The provisions of
a charter are the law of the state and have the force and effect
of legislative enactments. There are currently 45 general law
counties and 13 charter counties El Dorado County is on of the
charter counties.
Charter Counties: Alameda, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno,
Los Angeles, Orange, Placer, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San
Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Tehama
California's Original 27 Counties in 1850 were:
Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Los Angeles, Marin, Mariposa,
Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin,
San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma,
Sutter, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba.
For Tourism and Travel Purposes, the State of
California is also divided into 12 regions that conveniently
represent geographic bounds of either counties or natural
features such as deserts, mountains and bays. See the
California Regions Map
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