| Q: | How long is a County Executive’s term of office? |
| A: | The County Executive’s term is four years. In Racine County, the next term will be from April, 2003 to April, 2007. Non-partisan elections in Wisconsin are held in April. |
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| Q: | How many people work in the County Executive’s Office? |
| A: | The County Executive’s office includes the County Executive, the Executive & Legislative Liaison and an Administrative Assistant whose services are shared with the office of the Corporation Counsel. |
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| Q: | What are the duties of the County Executive? |
| A: | The County Executive is the chief executive officer of the County, responsible for seeing that all county ordinances and state and federal laws are observed and enforced.
- The County Executive directs all administrative and management functions of county government not vested by law in another elected official.
- The County Executive appoints and supervises the heads of all county departments except those headed by other elected officials. The County Executive’s appointees must be confirmed by the County Board, but serve at the pleasure of the County Executive. The County has six departments headed by other elected officials. They are the County Clerk, the County Treasurer, the Register of Deeds, the Clerk of Circuit Court, the District Attorney and the Sheriff. The County Executive appoints the Directors of the other County Departments: Human Services, Human Resources, Public Works, Planning & Development, Information Systems, the County Schools office, Ridgewood Care Center, the Corporation Counsel, Finance, and Community Services.
- The County Executive is required to report to the County Board on “The State of the County” at least once each year.
- The County Executive is required to prepare and submit to the County Board an annual budget for County government.
- The County Executive can approve or veto the Resolutions and Ordinances passed by the County Board. The County Executive’s veto of a Resolution or Ordinance can be overridden by a two-thirds of the members-elect of the County Board.
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| Q: | What is a County Executive? |
| A: | A County Executive is an elected official who is in charge of the day-to-day operations of County government. The position of County Executive is a non-partisan office, meaning that candidates for the office do not have to belong to any political party. Not every County in Wisconsin is headed by a County Executive; in fact, only 10 Wisconsin counties have a County Executive. In addition to Racine County, they are: Milwaukee, Dane, Kenosha, Brown, Outagamie, Fond du Lac, Winnebago, Waukesha and Manitowoc Counties. Other counties have an Administrator or Administrative Coordinator who is in charge of daily operations. The Administrator or Administrative Coordinator is hired by the County Board of Supervisors, and is not an elected official. A county chooses to establish the office of County Executive by passing a referendum. Racine County passed such a referendum in 1975. |
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| Q: | Who is eligible to run for County Executive? |
| A: | Any person who is eligible to vote in Racine County may run for County Executive. That means someone who is an American citizen, aged 18 or older, whose primary residence is in Racine County. |
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| Q: | Who is the County Executive? |
| A: | William McReynolds is the Racine County Executive. |
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| Q: | Who votes for the County Executive? |
| A: | The office of County Executive is a County-wide office. Therefore, all the citizens of the County vote for the office. This is different than the way citizens vote for County Board Supervisors. The County is divided into 23 Supervisory districts, and citizens can vote only for the Supervisor who will represent the district in which the citizen lives. |
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