Most counties in Utah are governed by an elected group of three county commissioners – this is the most common and traditional form of county government administration in the state.

However, a handful of Utah’s 29 counties are governed by an alternative form of administration called a county council. Councils, which are also made up of elected officials, can have any odd number of members from three to nine people who serve in that capacity.

Commissions and Councils are also a little bit different in that commissions oversee two important areas of responsibility within the county, while councils oversee one and the county must either elect or appoint an executive to handle the other. These two areas are known as legislative powers and executive powers.

As one of the only licensed county officials in Utah, the county surveyor’s job is to create and manage safeguards that protect every citizen’s right to own and quietly enjoy property.

This has always been an important part of local government and was one of the first of four locally-elected offices ever created in Utah, along with the county recorder, water master, and marshal (now called sheriff). Each job was viewed as critical to the foundation and welfare of an organized community. In fact, three of the four people depicted on Mt. Rushmore were county surveyors at one time.

Thomas Jefferson developed the idea of creating the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) as a means to create accurate, organized boundaries and descriptions to enable the sale and settlement of western lands that prepared regional areas for statehood. The US Congress adopted the system through the Land Ordinance of 1785. This same system is utilized and protected by county surveyors to this day, who are one of only a few licensed elected officials.