About Your Alachua County Government

What is the role of Alachua County Government?

We have two roles.

1. We provide countywide services that include Emergency Management, Animal Services, the Crisis Center, the Cooperative Extension Service, Victim Services and more.
2. We provide urban services, the types of services that cities provide in the unincorporated part of the County, which is the area that's not part of a city, and in some cities. These services include Department of Public Safety, Solid Waste, Parks and Recreation and Road and Bridge.

How is it organized?

The Board of County Commissioners is the governing body for County Government. The Board makes policy, which includes:

• Setting the County's budget.
• Enacting new laws.
• Ruling on rezoning applications and other land-use cases.
• The Board appoints the County Manager and the County Attorney.

What is the role of County Manager?

The County Manager supervises all of the 800+ employees under the Board, except for the staff of the County attorney. In Commission-Manager form of the government (which the County has), the Commission looks to the manager to provide professional management of services and work with staff to develop policy recommendations.

What other officials serve Alachua County?

The following elected officials serve the county but are elected independently from the Board of County Commissioners:

• Clerk of the Court
• Property Appraiser
• Sheriff
• Supervisor of Elections
• Tax Collector
• State Attorney

How can I take part in our Democracy?

The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners is dedicated to engaging citizens in the democratic process. You can make your voice heard by:

• Joining other citizens who serve on our advisory boards that advise County Government on affordable housing, economic development protection, environmental protection and many other topics.
• Commenting in person every time the Board of County Commissioners considers any subject during workshops and regular meetings.
• Making comments by telephone(352-384-3084) or e-mail during regular meetings of the Commission.
• Serving as a volunteer in our departments.
• Calling, writing or sending e-mails to Commissioners and County staff.

What other resources are there for keeping informed?

We're also dedicated to keeping you informed, and we do that by:

• Broadcasting our meetings on Cox Communications Channel 12.
• Maintaining this Web site which lists all our meetings and agendas and provides links to our departments and community resources.

Alachua County History

• Read about our History