List of U.S. county secession proposals

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This is a list of county secession proposals in the United States; that is, proposed new counties to be formed from existing counties within a given state. For counties which want to secede from their current state and join or create another, see List of U.S. state secession proposals.

[edit] Alaska

• Residents of Eagle River, Alaska, which was once an incorporated city within the former Greater Anchorage Area Borough but later absorbed into the current Municipality of Anchorage, have several times sought to form a separate municipality (consolidated city and borough similar to Anchorage).

[edit] Arizona

• Russell Pearce, a state legislator, has proposed a bill which would ease county splits, as part of his effort to split off the East Valley (Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert) portion of Maricopa County. County splitting rules were made more restrictive after the formation of La Paz County, Arizona in 1983, which required a significant state investment to keep the county running as the result of its small tax base.^[1]
• There is an ongoing movement in Lake Havasu City to split from Mohave County.^[2]
• In the late 1930s, differences between mining and ranching interests in Cochise County, Arizona spurred a proposal to split the county, with the new county's seat at Wilcox, which the state Legislature ultimately rejected.^[3]
• In the 1980's, a bill was successfully passed in the state legislature to create an all Indian county out of the northern halves of Navajo and Apache Counties, and the northeastern half of Coconino County. Non-Indian communities in the southern region of these counties felt that the Navajo and Hopi Nations do not pay a fair share in local taxes. The bill was vetoed by then governor Bruce Babbitt, who placed a 5 year moratorium on it's consideration. Subsequent attempts to revive the bill failed and the issue never resurfaced. ^[4]

[edit] California

• Mission County, California, to be formed from the northern portion of Santa Barbara County, California.^[5]
• High Desert County, California, to be formed largely from northern Los Angeles County, California as well as portions of San Bernardino County, California and Kern County, California. Proposed by late state senator Pete Knight (cf.) in 2002.^[6][7]
• A writer to the Los Angeles Times in 1997 indicated a sentiment from south Orange County, California residents that they would seek to secede from the county if it insisted on building a new airport on the former site of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro.^[8] The airport plan was eventually discarded in favor of the Orange County Great Park plan.
• Prior to the formation of Orange County, California, residents of Anaheim, California in 1870 pushed a bill in the state assembly for the creation of an Anaheim County, California. The proposal had the support of San Francisco.^[9]
• In 2002, residents of the city of Corona proposed Corona County to include the western edge of Riverside County.
• In the late 1980s, some residents of the Coachella Valley of Riverside County failed to create a new county: Cahuilla County.
• In Northern California, three proposed county plans failed in the 1990's: Redwood County (western parts of Mendocino and Sonoma counties), Tahoe County (eastern parts of Nevada, Placer and El Dorado counties) and Central Valley County (of western Merced and Fresno counties).

[edit] Georgia

• Milton County, Georgia once existed, but in the 1930s it merged (along with other counties and towns) with Fulton County, Georgia, in the 1930s to save money during the Great Depression. More recently, land-use and other divisions have inspired the re-establishment of Milton County.

[edit] Hawaii

• In 2006, residents of unincorporated west Hawaii County, Hawaii, which currently encompasses all of Hawaii Island, met to propose the formation of West Hawaii County. The recent movement reportedly has the support of at least one state senator. ^[10] Critics argue the region's concerns could be satisfied simply by municipal corporation.

[edit] Illinois

• Lincoln County: Southern Cook County, Illinois communities, upset at Chicago-centric policies of the county government, petitioned in 2004 to split off the southern portion of the county. The southern communities argue they are in financial ruin due to bad policies limiting their ability to attract business, but critics contend that the area's problems stem from rampant city corruption.^[11][12]

[edit] Indiana

• In a 2004 meeting of the Putnam County, Indiana commissioners, the sentiment of splitting the county, in order to fairly distribute innkeepers' tax, is alluded to, but rejected as an invalid matter for the council. ^[13]

[edit] Kansas

• Garfield County: In 1887, the area around Ravanna, Kansas and Eminence, Kansas split from Buffalo County, Kansas (now split among Lane, Finney, and Gray counties) and organized into Garfield County. Both towns were of equal influence, and contested the award of county seat. An election that year, which involved 20 Dodge City deputies including Bat Masterson, found Ravanna to have the lead. However, Eminence discovered that illegal votes had been cast for Ravanna, and in 1889 the state supreme court overturned 60 votes, awarding Garfield County seat to Eminence. In a doomsday move, Ravanna countered by hiring surveyors to determine that the new county's land area was under the minimum allowed at the time. In 1893 the Kansas state legislature invalidated the county and annexed it to Finney. Today, both Ravanna and Eminence are ghost towns. ^{[14][15][16][17]}

[edit] Massachusetts

• Throughout the history of Worcester County, Massachusetts, the largest by area in the state, residents of the northern part of the county have pushed for a split. This never occurred, and is now a moot point as, like some other New England counties, the county government has been dissolved and its responsibilities assumed by the state.

[edit] Minnesota

• Residents of Florence Township, Minnesota began a petition to secede from Goodhue County, Minnesota over plans to locate a nuclear waste disposal site in the area.^[18]
• There appears to have been a proposal to split Pine County, Minnesota in 2000, which prompted a change in county formation laws. [2] [3] ^[19]

[edit] Nevada

• Residents of Nye County, Nevada, mainly in Pahrump, Nevada and Tonopah, Nevada, have pushed as recently as 2001 for a north-south county split, perhaps with the northern portion merging with Esmeralda County, Nevada. While laws making it easier to form new counties have passed since then, this split has not occurred.^[20] Nye is the largest county in Nevada and the third largest in the entire U.S., though over 90% is federal land.

[edit] New Jersey

• The municipalities of western Essex County have discussed secession from the county, to create a new West Essex County, spurred mainly by a belief that tax laws benefit the eastern portions of the county at the expense of the western municipalities. Currently, this idea is essentially a dead movement

[edit] New York

• Adirondack County, New York, to be formed from northern Essex County, New York and southern Franklin County, New York.
• Peconic County, New York, to be formed from the rural eastern portion of Suffolk County, New York.
• While not technically a matter of county secession, Richmond County, New York, which encompasses Staten Island and is a borough of New York City, voted in 1990 to begin the process of seceding from the city. ^[21]

[edit] Ohio

• In 1818, residents of the Barnesville, Ohio greater area petitioned the state legislature for a new county seated at the city and formed from parts of Belmont County, Ohio, Guernsey County, Ohio and Monroe County, Ohio. The proposal was rejected.^[22]

[edit] Oregon

• Siuslaw County, to be formed from the coastal portions of Lane County, Oregon and Douglas County, Oregon.^[23]
• In 2001, David Dillon, editor of the North Coast Citizen newspaper, proposed a new county be formed from the northern portion of Tillamook County, Oregon. Discussion and research on the new county, which was never named, stalled in 2002. ^[24]

[edit] Tennessee

• Neshoba County, to be formed from part of Shelby County, Tennessee. Its formation was threatened in 1990 by rural communities after the city of Memphis, Tennessee proposed that the city's financially struggling school district merge with that of the county, which continues to be repeatedly considered.

[edit] Virginia

• Catoctin County, Virginia, to be formed from western Loudoun County, Virginia, in response to the voiding of zoning measures intended to slow growth in the area.
• During the desegregation era, the city of Ivor, Virginia threatened to secede from Southampton County, Virginia after a consolidated and integrated county high school was built in the late 1950s.^[25]

[edit] Washington

• Cascade County, Washington, to be formed in the rural eastern portion of King County, Washington, leaving some portion of the Seattle metropolitan area behind.^[26]
• Cedar County, Washington, a prior, similar proposal in King County.
• Freedom County, Washington, to be formed from the eastern portion of Snohomish County, Washington. Freedom has gone so far as to form a provisional county government.
• Skykomish County, Washington, to be formed from southeastern Snohomish and northeastern King counties.
• Pioneer County, Washington, to be formed from the northwest corner of Whatcom County, Washington.
• Independence County, Washington, to be formed form the east portion of Whatcom County. Both Pioneer and Independence movements cite poor services and oppressive property regulations, plus favoritism towards Bellingham, Washington as reasons for their proposals. Both are rumored to be backed by land developers. ^[27]

[edit] West Virginia

Western Greenbrier County, West Virginia, to be formed from Greenbrier County, West Virginia. This political subdivision of the State of West Virginia shall be accomplished by the separation of one or more of the westernmost districts from the existing county. An official name for the county and a county seat have not been selected. Presently, the movement toward separation is not formally organized and is little more than dialog in social circles. Residents cite poor services and oppressive property regulations emanating from the county seat. A glimpse of the western end of the county reveals an area that is culturally stagnant, economically impoverished, and politically disenfranchised. A demographic observation of the area is that of a predominantly low income, blue collar, working class community. Poor infrastructure and little economic development contribute to this area's condition. Separation from the more affluent and economically vibrant eastern end of the county would give the western end a fresh start.

[edit] Wyoming

• Wind River County, to be formed from eastern Fremont County, Wyoming, with county seat at Riverton, Wyoming. Riverton and Lander, Wyoming, which as county seat would remain in Fremont County, are rival towns. ^[28]
• Residents of Wright, Wyoming proposed a split from Campbell County, Wyoming in 2005.
• In 2004, state senator Stan Cooper introduced a bill to form Fossil County from the southern half of Lincoln County, Wyoming, which failed.

Additional reference: [4]

[edit] External links

• Should there be more counties? by Dave Schul (These proposals do not seem to have any community support and are not included in the above list.)

[edit] References