County administrator

A county administrator or county manager is an unelected official appointed to be the chief administrative officer of a county in the United States. They are usually nominated by the county executive and appointed by the county council. This position is analogous to a city manager at the county-level.

In some counties, the equivalent position is the county executive (although this term is sometimes used to refer to a directly or indirectly elected official, and not a hired employee) or county chief administrative officer (CAO) in some counties, and county judge in others. The term "county manager," as opposed to CAO, implies more discretion and independent authority that is set forth in a charter or some other body of codified law, as opposed to duties being assigned on a varying basis to a single superior such as a county commissioner.^[1]

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) is the professional association for county administrators.^[2]