In 2026, amidst an evolving intergovernmental landscape, counties are continuing to deliver essential services and serve local communities. State associations of counties advocate for county governments at the state level in capitol buildings across the country.
State associations of counties provide a wide range of services to their members, including legislative advocacy, research, training, consultation and publications at the state level. In advance of each state’s legislative session, most associations establish legislative priorities to guide their staff and members in addressing the most pressing issues and key pieces of legislation under consideration in their statehouses.
To provide a national picture of key state policy issues relevant to county government and services, NACo compiled legislative priorities for 39.6 state associations.
1 / Top priority
State associations are focused on preserving the property tax base, maintaining local revenue authority and protecting counties from fiscal constraints that make essential services harder to deliver.
2 / Shared priority
Many criminal justice priorities intersect with funding, including county responsibilities for jails, detention centers, courts and related services.
3 / Shared priority
Public safety priorities include 911 funding and infrastructure, staffing and equipment shortages, traffic and road safety regulations and fire service funding and codes.
Out of the 387 state policy priorities collected, the most common policy topics were taxes and revenues, criminal justice and public safety. The full tracker includes hundreds of priorities across policy topics. Click here to dive into the database.
Explore the top ten policy priority topics identified by state associations. Select a topic to see where it appears across the country, and toggle between ranking topics by the total number of priorities or by the number of states represented.
Explore the full policy priority database below. Search by keyword and filter by state and policy topic.
| State | Association | Policy Topic | Priority | Details |
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For questions about the state policy research hub, contact Isabella Reed, Research Analyst, at ireed@naco.org.
