As the article stated on Syracuse.com last year, Elaine Denton aims to help people better understand Onondaga County government. I have been diving in to county government and I want to share what I learn with you. This first post is about county government organization in New York State.
New York State has 57 counties outside of NYC. These 57 counties have varying methods of governmental organization. There are three ways counties run in New York:
- Charter counties with an elected executive or appointed administrative official.
- Counties with an appointed manager or administrator organized under county law.
- Counties operating under the administrative direction of an elected legislative body.
Onondaga County has been a charter county with an elected executive since 1962. Before it was governed by a board of supervisors until voters approved the county executive position in 1961. Interesting fact, in over 60 years, we have only had 4 county executives.
In New York, there are 23 counties governed by a county charter, 18 of them elect a county executive. I love learning by studying what others have tried and accomplished. Looking at these other counties with an elected county executive will be helpful but because each of them have their own charter it will still depend on their specific rules vs ours. I will also study what other counties do, especially our neighboring counties as we are so connected.
Let’s look at some basics of the 18 counties with county executives.
*Data from NYSAC – County Government Organizations in NYS Jan 2026
Have an example of good governance? Let me know.
