Mitchell Township is a former

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in Davison County,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, now primarily overlaid by the city of

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territo ...

. Due in part to (1) rising

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

expenditures; (2 ) a declining

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

base resulting from

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

s of portions of Mitchell Township by the city of Mitchell, and (3) residents' unwillingness to increase their own

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...

levy for road work, a majority of Mitchell Township residents affirmatively voted to abolish their

political subdivision Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

in 2001. As a result of the 2001 abolition election, that part of Davison County that previously comprised Mitchell Township became

unorganized territory Unorganized territory may refer to: * An unincorporated area in any number of countries * One of the current or former territories of the United States that has not had a government "organized" with an "organic act" by the U.S. Congress * Unorganize ...

and was governed by the Davison County Board of Commissioners. Due to various continuing issues relating to road maintenance, accountability for tax assessments and expenditure of tax revenues, fire protection, and a general desire for local control, a special election was held in 2009 on the question of reestablishing Mitchell Township. The result of the election was positive and Mitchell Township was subsequently reorganized as a political subdivision of the State of South Dakota. Mitchell Township regained independent taxing authority and, following reorganization, is governed by an elected board of township supervisors.

External links

* Geography of Davison County, South Dakota Townships in South Dakota {{SouthDakota-geo-stub