County Spotlight: County government plays fundamental role in our daily lives

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Recently I was attending a meeting with a diverse group of local business people and fielded a broad range of questions about county government basics. This should not have been a surprise! When I was a student, I took my first politics-related class in the seventh grade and this interest persisted into college, where my major was Politics and Government (with a focus on how a variety of governments actually function.) Not once do I recall county government being mentioned, highlighted or even acknowledged.

This is quite an oversight given the fundamental role that county government plays in our daily lives. Counties are responsible for the maintenance and preservation of roads and bridges on the majority of road miles in our country. Counties are responsible for managing local, state and federal elections. Counties are responsible for law enforcement and jails, as well as District Courts.

Counties create zoning, manage environmental and building permits and engage in long-range planning. Counties implement habitat restoration projects. Many counties, like ours, manage parks. Counties partner with Washington State University to implement the Extension program which supports everything from 4H to the Master Gardeners Program. Counties are responsible for public health programs, including septic permitting and oversight of landfills. Some counties even pull off a county fair each year!

Counties are a sub-division of state government and perform a variety of roles on behalf of, or in partnership with, the state. When the prosecuting attorney appears in court, he or she appears on behalf of the state. The Superior Court system is a shared responsibility. The clerk supports the Superior Court. The auditor’s office implements the state’s licensing system. Counties implement a majority of state legislation, working closely with all state agencies to see that the intent of the Legislature is met.

Save a handful of the largest counties in our state, a board of three or five elected county commissioners serve as both the legislative and executive branches of county government. Clallam County has three commissioners, each representing a geographic district but each elected by the entire county. Sequim is in District 1, which runs from the eastern county line to approximately Carlsborg Road, and district boundaries are readjusted every 10 years following the decadal census.

The most important responsibility we hold is to establish and manage the annual budget, but we also provide oversight for all administrative departments like Human Resources and Information Technology as well as coordination with all of the departments headed by an independent elected official.

County commissioners also serve on a wide variety of regional and state boards and advisory committees. My primary regional focus is the behavioral health system and my primary statewide focus is representing all counties on the Emergency Management Council.

A variety of vital public functions are managed by independent elected officials, each with their own suite of responsibilities. The auditor manages elections, oversees licensing, and provides fiscal oversight and accounting for all public dollars that run through the county. The assessor establishes property values for the purpose of taxation. The treasurer manages all county funds, determines appropriate investment strategies, manages banking relationships and collects property taxes. The sheriff oversees countywide law enforcement, the jail and emergency management. The prosecuting attorney prosecutes crimes and supports victims and witnesses. The District Court judges manage their respective courts, including therapeutic courts like drug court. Superior Court judges manage felony trials, family law and more.

Clallam County, rather than following the structure for counties outlined in state law, is what’s known as a “charter county,” meaning we have our own county charter which outlines the basic structure of our government. Perhaps most unique about our county, and made possible because we are a charter county, is our elected director of Community Development. As far as we know we are the only county in the entire United States where this position is held by an independent elected official, answerable to the voters, rather than being an administrative department under the umbrella of the commissioners.

Most of these countywide elected positions will be on the November ballot and I encourage you to learn more; given the needs of our community and the complexity of this work, a team of high-caliber elected officials is vital to our collective success.

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Mark Ozias is District 1 Clallam County Commissioner.