14 STATION BULLETIN 346 



tutes a separate and single district. Every school district has its 

 own set of officials, whose duties and powers are limited to school 

 affairs. In accordance with powers granted it by public law, the 

 State Board of Education has combined the several school districts 

 into supervisory unions for administrative purposes. There are now 

 48 such unions, each consisting of from one to nine school districts. 

 There are ten single-district unions including nine cities and one 

 large town. 



These, then, are the three levels of organized local government 

 superimposed on the state area : 



1. County government 



2. Town and city government 



3. School district government 



Statutes provide for the organization of village districts with 

 relatively limited powers. There are now 69 such districts or "pre- 

 cincts" organized in 50 towns. Most of these are for the limited pur- 

 poses of fire control, water supply, or both. The precinct ofifers an 

 opportunity to distribute the burden of special services among those 

 benefited who reside in the populous area of a town where additional 

 services are demanded. The boundaries of such districts are fixed by 

 the selectmen of the town, or towns concerned, upon petition of ten 

 or more voters, after which the voters of a district may establish it 

 and elect the necessary officers including a moderator, clerk, three 

 commissioners, and a treasurer. A village district has all the powers 

 of a town for like functions. 



Interrelationships of Local Government 



Interrelations between the state and its subdivisions constitute 

 one of the most important intergovernmental relationships affecting 

 local government in New Hampshire. Although local units of gov- 

 ernment are something more than administrative subdivisions of the 

 state, the record of every legislative session necessarily contains num- 

 erous acts which relate to the powers of local units of government. 

 The following are the titles of a few acts selected at random from the 

 session laws of 1935 : 



Chapter Zl . An Act Defining the Rights of School Board Members 

 in Supervisory Unions. 



Chapter 38. An Act Relative to the Perambulation of Town Lines. 



Chapter 287. An Act Relating to the Tow^n of Richmond. 



Chapter 289. An Act Legalizing the Proceedings of the March 12, 1935, 

 Election in the City of Laconia. 



Chapter 290. An Act Relating to the Charter of the City of Nashua. 



Chapter 293. An Act Relating to the Powers of the Village Precinct of 

 Hanover. 



Chapter 318. An .Xct .Authorizing the County of Grafton to Issue Bonds. 



The local units of the state constitute the adiuinistrative units 

 in the election of state officials. The largest areas into which the state 



15 divided for election purposes are councilor and senatorial districts. 

 There are five councilor districts from each of which one councilor is 



