A park district is a form of local

special-purpose district Special districts (also known as special service districts, special district governments, limited purpose entities, or special-purpose districts) are independent, special-purpose governmental units that exist separately from local governments such ...

for providing public

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

s and recreation in or near its geographic boundaries. Some park districts also own or maintain related cultural facilities such as monuments,

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...

s, sports venues, music venues, or museums. Park districts are prevalent in the

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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. State

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by ...

s often have a general law to provide for park districts' creation, dissolution, geographic borders, and

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 ...

; the selection of governing boards, often referred to as park boards; and the criteria for levying

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 inher ...

es on behalf of the district. Park districts sometimes obtain additional revenue by charging admission fees for some venues and through donations or voluntary memberships in a similar way to not-for-profit organizations; in addition, sometimes a park district is assisted by a private not-for-profit organization set up specifically for the purpose of assisting the local public park system. Park district jurisdiction over public recreation is usually not exclusive; other local government bodies may also have their own parks. Local government bodies besides park districts also own museums and public event venues such as arenas; in some places the main public museums are instead part of the local library district or a separate museum district.

State park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

s and

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

s, and other related state and national areas, are controlled at the level of government that created them, rather than by any local park district. Illinois statute provides specifically for an administrative body known as the

Chicago Park District The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest park districts in the United States. As of 2016, there are over 600 parks included in the Chicago Park District as well as 27 beaches, several boat harbors, two botanic conservatorie ...

, which is under the control of a "

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

" appointed by the

mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and ...

rather than a publicly elected park board as with other park districts in Illinois. In some states, such as

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, park districts are also authorized to have their own park police departments, independent of the other local police departments or state or national park police. In

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, the Ohio Revised Code section 1545 provides for general park districts, often known as "metro parks", in addition to "township park districts" allowed under ORC section 511.18. Township park districts may be converted into "metro parks" by public election. Section 1545 park districts are authorized to operate their own park police as well. Park districts in Ohio are controlled by park commissioners appointed by a local

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

, rather than by a publicly elected park board.

References

{{gov-stub Parks services

See also

References