Alcalde
Alcalde is the Spanish title of the chief administrator of a town. An alcalde's duties usually included both judicial and administrative functions. The title derives from the Andalusi Arabic al-qadi ( قاضي,), meaning "the judge".
Both the title and the combination of judicial and administrative functions are indicative of a continuity of town structures in Spain from the Moorish time to the present, despite the change of religion and culture through the reconquista. In modern Spain, it just the equivalent to a mayor. In the autonomous Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, their alcaldes have greater powers than their peninsular colleagues.
This title has been in use in the United States, for example in San Francisco, California (Surocco v. Geary, Supreme Court of California, 3 Cal. 69, 58 Am.Dec. 385, "Geary, at that time Alcalde of San Francisco...").
Stephen Johnson Field, later an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, once served as alcalde of the town of Marysville, California.
In Texas, the position of county judge was based on that of the alcalde which had existed prior to the Texas Revolution. Like the alcaldes before them, county judges under the Texas Constitution wield both judicial and chief executive functions. Although in larger counties today the county judge usually functions solely as county chief executive, in smaller counties, the role of the county judge continues many of the combined judicial and administrative functions of the alcalde.
See also
References
- Alcalde from the Handbook of Texas Online
- alcalde in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española.
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