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Jefferson County, Alabama

Coordinates: 33°35′N 86°52′W / 33.583°N 86.867°W / 33.583; -86.867
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Jefferson County
County
UAB hospital in Birmingham,Alabama
UAB hospital in Birmingham,Alabama
Map of Alabama highlighting Jefferson County
Location within the U.S. state of Alabama
Map of the United States highlighting Alabama
Alabama's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 33°31′N 86°49′W / 33.52°N 86.81°W / 33.52; -86.81
Country United States
State Alabama
FoundedDecember 13, 1819[2]
SeatBirmingham
Largest cityBirmingham
Area
 • Total1,124 sq mi (2,910 km2)
 • Land1,113 sq mi (2,880 km2)
 • Water11 sq mi (30 km2)  1.00%
Population
 (2009)
 • Total665,027 [1]
 • Density595/sq mi (230/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Websitejeffconline.jccal.org

Jefferson County is the most populous county in Alabama, with its county seat being located in Birmingham.[2] As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the population of Jefferson County was 662,047, but the July 2009 estimate is 665,027.[2] Jefferson County is the most populous and the principal county in the Birmingham metropolitan area.

History

Jefferson County was established on December 13, 1819, by the Alabama Legislature.[2] It was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson.[2] The county is located in the north-central portion of the state, on the southmost edge of the Appalachian Mountains, in the center of the iron, steel, coal, and limestone mining belt of the Southern United States. Jefferson County is bordered by Blount County, Bibb County, St. Clair County, Shelby County, Tuscaloosa County, and Walker County, in Alabama. Jefferson County has a land area of about 1,119 square miles (2,900 km2). Well-before Birmingham was even founded (in 1871), the county seat of Jefferson County was located at Carrollsville (1819 – 21) and Elyton (1821 – 73), and since 1873 it has been located in Birmingham, which was named for the English city of the same name in Warwickshire, which had long been a center of iron and steel production in Great Britain. Note that Elyton has long been a part of Birmingham itself, since Birmingham was established by the merger of three towns, and the city has a long history of annexing its neighboring towns, incluing North Birmingham.

Government and law

Jefferson County is one of the eight counties in Alabama that has a limited-form of home rule government. This limited authority of home rule allows the county to be able to set up a zoning system for land use, maintain sewer systems and highways, provide for garbage and trash disposal, and to enforce taxation (except for property taxes). The county is governed by a five-member commission to combines the legislative and executive duties for the county. The Commissioners are elected by a vote of the districts which they represent, rather than by an "at large" election as has been done sometimes in the past. Each county commissioner represents one of the five individual districts in the county. By votes in the commission, the commissioners are given executive responsibilities for the various county departments, which fall under the categories of "Roads and Transportation", "Community Development", "Environmental Services", "Health and Human Services", "Technlogy and Land Development", and "Finance and General Services". The County Commission elects its own President, who is the chairman if all County Commission meetings, and who has additional executive duties.

Jefferson County is served by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. The County Sheriff is chosen by the eligible voters in an "at large" election, rather than being hired as a civil service professional, and sheriffs are selected in many other places. The current County Sheriff is Mike Hale. The Sheriff's Department fields about 175 deputy sheriffs who patrol the unincorporated areas of the county, and also all municipalities that do not have their own police departments. The Sheriff's Department has two county jails, one in Birmingham and one in Bessemer that detain suspects awaiting trial (who cannot afford to post bail) and other ones who are serving sentences less than one year in length.

The judicial system of Jefferson County is somewhat unusual within the State because there are two judicial courthouses in this county. [There is another county in South Alabama which has this arrangement.] This came about years ago when the state legislature was apparently making preparations to split off a portion of Jefferson County to create a new county centered around Bessemer. However, this plan was not able to be carried through, because there was no way to allocate a new county enough area to meet the requirement of the Alabama State Constitution (a minimum of 500 square miles).

However, given the large poputation of Jefferson County, having two courthouses is a good thing to served the people of this county. The additional county courthouse and some parallel functions remain in sevice. The main courthouse is in Birmingham and the second one is located in Bessemer. There are elected officials who maintain offices in the Bessemer annex, such as the county's Assistant Tax Collector, the Assistant Tax Assessor, and the Assistant District Attorney.

Taxation

Sales tax within Jefferson County can be as high as 10¢ sales tax on each dollar on anything from groceries to clothing items. In January 2005, a controversial addition 1% educational sales tax for the funding of construction of education facilities came into effect. This controversial tax was approved with a 3-2 vote by the County Commission in October 2004. Commissioners Gary White and Bettye Fine Collins voted against the tax; while Larry Langford, Sheila Smoot, and Mary Buckelew voted in favor.[citation needed] This additional 1¢ has led county municipalities like Fairfield to have sales tax rates as high as 10¢ on the dollar while other municipalities and incorporated communities saw an increase in their total sales tax rate from 8% to 9%. The educational sales tax as well as the county's limited ability to self-govern has been the subject of an attempted repeal by the Alabama State Legislature during the 2005 regular legislative session though the repeal of either (particularly self-government) is highly unlikely.[original research?] It should be noted that the state of Alabama sales tax is 4% and Jefferson County's is 2% in total. Municipal sales taxes go as high as 4%. The county also charges an Occupational Tax, which has been the subject of controversy and is generally considered an unconstitutional taxation.[3]

Sewer construction and bond swap controversy

Two extremely controversial undertakings by the county account for the majority of this debt. First was a massive overhaul of the county-owned sewer system, and second was a series of risky bond-swap agreements. Both have been scrutinized by federal prosecutors, with several former county officials convicted of bribery and corruption.[citation needed]

In 1995, Jefferson County entered into a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency regarding sewer overflows into the Cahaba River watershed. A total of $3.2 billion of new construction was subsequently contracted, both to comply with the consent decree and to expand the system to newly-developing areas and increase the number of ratepayers financing the construction. Several engineers, building contractors and commissioners have since been tried and convicted in Federal Court. On May 12, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions in large part.[citation needed]

A series of controversial interest rate swaps, initiated in 2002 and 2003 by former Commission President Larry Langford (removed as the mayor of Birmingham after his conviction[4]), were intended to lower interest payments, but have, in fact, had the opposite effect, increasing the county's indebtedness to the point that officials have issued formal statements doubting the county's ability to meet its financial obligations. The bond swaps are at the center of an investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.[5]

In late February 2008 Standard & Poor's lowered their rating of Jefferson County bonds to "junk" status. The likelihood of the county filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection has been debated in the press.[6] In early March 2008, Moody's followed suit and indicated that it would also review the county's ability to meet other bond obligations.[7]

On March 7, 2008, Jefferson County failed to post $184 million collateral as required under its sewer bond agreements, thereby moving into technical default.[8]

Geography & Transportation

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,911 km² (1,124 square miles). Nearly 1,113 square miles (2,882 km²) of it is land, and 11 square miles (29 km²) of it (1.00%) is water.

Major highways

Railroads & railroad services

Formerly, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Formerly, the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad
Formerly, the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad

Airline Transportation

Birmingham is the location of the Birmingham International Airport, which provides a significant amount of service, either direct or connecting, to most of the rest of the United States. However, in spite of its name, it serves very few or no international flights.

Adjacent counties

National protected area

Demographics

Jefferson County, Alabama
YearPop.±%
1830 6,855—    
1840 7,131+4.0%
1850 8,989+26.1%
1860 11,746+30.7%
1870 12,345+5.1%
1880 23,272+88.5%
1890 88,501+280.3%
1900 140,420+58.7%
1910 226,476+61.3%
1920 310,054+36.9%
1930 431,493+39.2%
1940 459,930+6.6%
1950 558,928+21.5%
1960 634,864+13.6%
1970 644,991+1.6%
1980 671,371+4.1%
1990 651,525−3.0%
2000 662,047+1.6%
Sources: "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. through 1960

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 662,047 people, 263,265 households, and 175,861 families residing in the county. The population density was 595 people per square mile (230/km²). There were 288,162 housing units at an average density of 259 per square mile (100/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 58.10% White, 39.36% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.90% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. Nearly 1.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 263,265 households, out of which 30.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.10% were married couples living together, 17.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.20% were non-families. Nearly 28.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45, and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.80% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.50 males.

In 2007 Jefferson County had the highest rate of syphilis cases per 100,000 in the US, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[9]

The median income for a household in the county was $36,868, and the median income for a family was $45,951. Males had a median income of $35,954 versus $26,631 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,892. About 11.60% of families and 14.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 12.70% of those age 65 or over.

Politics/Election results

Jefferson County vote
by party in presidential elections
Year GOP DEM Others
2008 47.2% 149,921 52.3% 166,121 0.5% 1,768
2004 54.2% 158,680 45.2% 132,286 0.7% 2,001
2000 50.6% 138,491 47.4% 129,889 2.0% 5,383
1996 50.2% 130,980 46.1% 120,028 3.7% 9,718
1992 50.1% 149,832 42.1% 125,889 7.7% 23,163

Although Alabama as a whole voted for John McCain by double digits, Jefferson County voted for Democrat Barack Obama. He won 52% of the vote in Jefferson County and 166,121 votes. John McCain won 47% of the vote and 149,921 votes.[10]

Cities and towns

Education

Except for cities that have established their own local school districts, all parts of Jefferson County outside of the city limits of Birmingham are served by Jefferson County Board of Education. Parts within Birmingham are served by Birmingham City Schools. Other cities in the county that have established their own school systems are Bessemer, Fairfield, Midfield, Trussville, Homewood, Leeds, Hoover, Vestavia, Tarrant, and Mountain Brook.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/files/SUB-EST2009-AL-MO.csv
  2. ^ a b c d e "Jefferson County Extension Office". Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES).
  3. ^ Red Mountain Law's Birmingham Business Law Blog: Is Jefferson County’s Continued Collection of Its Occupational Tax Valid?
  4. ^ http://www.al.com/news/larry-langford/index.ssf/index_3.html
  5. ^ Wright, Barnett (December 18, 2007). "SEC wants to force Larry Langford, Bill Blount to testify in Jefferson County bond swap deals". Birmingham News. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Hubbard, Russell (March 2, 2008) "Jefferson County finance options likely to be expensive." Birmingham News
  7. ^ Hubbard, Russell (March 4, 2008). "Update: Jefferson County finances take another hit". Birmingham News.
  8. ^ Wright, Barnett (March 8, 2008) "Jefferson County, Alabama sewer debt swap agreement deadline passes." Birmingham News
  9. ^ Birmingham Business Journal,"Jefferson County tops country for number of syphilis cases" November 15, 2007.
  10. ^ http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/

33°35′N 86°52′W / 33.583°N 86.867°W / 33.583; -86.867

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