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Township
A township in the United States can be a unit of local government or a division of territory in surveys of public land containing 36 square miles.[1] The United States Census Bureau considers townships to be a category of minor civil divisions (MCDs). MCDs "comprise both governmentally functioning entities — that is, those with elected or appointed officials who provide services and raise revenues — and nonfunctioning entities that exist primarily for administrative purposes, such as election districts," according to the United States Census Bureau.[2]
MCDs serve as governmental units in 20 states, though the legal powers of those MCDs vary from state to state. The following 12 states use MCDs as general-purpose local governments:[2]
In the following eight states, MCDs are active governmental units but perform less of a governmental role:[2]
Footnotes
