Board Thread:Off-Topic Discussion/@comment-5787825-20140609092317/@comment-12633677-20140708142357

In the United States, the states are further divided into counties. It creates a government hierarchy of town > county > state > federal. Every county has its own courtroom, tax assessor, vehicle registration office, road department, coroner, sheriff, local jail, and so on.

In Louisiana, counties are called parishes. In Alaska, they're called boroughs.