As of 2002, Massachusetts had 5 counties, 45 cities, and 306 townships, 82 public school districts, and 403 special districts.
In most counties, which mostly serve judicial purposes, executive authority is vested in commissioners elected to four-year terms. Other county officials include the register of probate and family court, sheriff, clerk of courts, county treasurer, and register of deeds.
All Massachusetts cities are governed by mayors and city councils. Towns are governed by selectmen, who are usually elected to either one- or two-year terms. Town meetings—a carryover from the colonial period, when every taxpayer had an equal voice in town government—still take place. By state law, to be designated a city, a place must have at least 12,000 residents. Towns with more than 6,000 inhabitants may hold representative town meetings limited to elected officials.