emergency management. Board of education There is also a county educational service center (previously known as the county board of education) presided over by a board of education, typically numbering five members, elected to staggered four-year terms in non-partisan elections in odd-numbered years. The center supplies services to the individual school districts in the county and exercises some limited control over the class of school districts known as "local school districts." ("City school districts" and "exempted village school districts" are free from any oversight by the county board.) Some counties have combined their educational service centers with other counties'. Counties also have a board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to educate disabled children. The members of the board are appointed. Elections Elections are administered in each county by a four-member board of elections which consists of two Republicans and two Democrats appointed by the Ohio Secretary of State at the recommendation of each county party. The board employs a director, who must be of the opposing political party of the chairman of the board of elections, and a deputy director, who must be of the political party of the chairman of the board. County courts Every county has a court of common pleas, which is the court of first instance for felonies and certain high-value civil cases. In many counties there are also municipal courts which operate in a defined territory and handle misdemeanors such as traffic tickets and smaller civil matters. Some counties also have one or more county courts, which handle the same cases as a municipal court but which occur outside the jurisdiction of a municipal court. In counties with large populations, the jurisdiction of the common pleas court may be divided into several specific departments, including a probate court (which handles wills, adoptions, and issues marriage licenses), a juvenile court, or a domestic relations court. All judges in Ohio are elected to six-year terms in non-partisan elections after being nominated in partisan primaries. County judges are elected in even-numbered years, municipal court judges in odd-numbered years. External links County Commissioners Association of Ohio County Loss Control Coordinators Association of Ohio County Treasurers Association of Ohio Ohio State Coroners Association Ohio Recorders Association Buckeye State Sheriffs Association Ohio Clerks of Court Association County Engineers Association of Ohio County Auditors Association of Ohio Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association Ohio Educational Service Center Association Ohio County government Ohio county