page_title: Monroe County, Indiana
section_title: Government and politics
hierarchical_section_title: Monroe County, Indiana / Government and politics
caption_attribution_description: English: Monroe County Sheriff's Department, jail, and courthouse in Bloomington, Indiana. NW corner of Walnut Ave and 7th St
context_page_description: Monroe County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. In 1910 the US Census Bureau calculated the nation's mean population center to lie in Monroe County. The population was 137,974 at the 2010 United States Census. The county seat is Bloomington.
  Monroe County is part of the Bloomington, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area.
context_section_description: The county government is a constitutional body, and is granted specific powers by the Constitution of Indiana, and by the Indiana Code.
  County Council: The fiscal body of the county government; controls spending and revenue collection in the county. There are four elected members representing districts and three members elected at-large. The council members serve staggered four-year terms. They are responsible for setting salaries, the annual budget, and special spending. The council also has authority to impose local taxes, in the form of an income and property tax that is subject to state level approval, excise taxes, and service taxes.
  Board of Commissioners: A three-member board serving as the executive and legislative body of the county. The commissioners are elected county-wide, in staggered four-year terms. The president of this board is the county's principal executive officer. The commissioners are charged with setting policy and managing the day-to-day functions of the county government.
  Court: The county maintains a unified circuit court with nine divisions and a court commissioner who handles civil cases. Judges must be members of the Indiana Bar Association; they are elected to six-year terms. Some court decisions can be appealed to the state level (appeals court, state supreme court).
  County Officials: The county has several other elected offices, including sheriff, coroner, auditor, treasurer, recorder, surveyor, assessor, and circuit court clerk. They are elected county-wide to four-year terms. Members elected to county government positions are required to declare party affiliations and to be residents of the county.
  Monroe County is part of Indiana's 9th congressional district and is represented in Congress Republican Trey Hollingsworth. It is part of Indiana Senate districts 37, 40 and 44; and Indiana House of Representatives districts 46, 60 and 61.
caption: Sheriff's office and jail
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