The functions of the county board may be summarized under six heads. 1. _Financial._ Most county boards have the right to levy county taxes and to make appropriations for expenditure. They have authority from the state legislature to borrow money on the county’s credit. This borrowing power is exercised in order to construct county roads, build bridges, or provide county buildings. 2. _Highways and bridges._ In many states all the main highways are designated as state or county roads. The towns and townships are responsible for the construction of minor highways only. The state roads are built by state highway commissions or some such body; the county roads are constructed and maintained by the county board. In some states these county roads are numerous; in others they are very few. Main bridges, which connect two cities, towns, or townships, are also built and maintained by the county board. 3. _Public buildings._ Every county requires certain public buildings, including a courthouse, a county jail, a registry of deeds, a county poorhouse, and sometimes a county hospital. These buildings are erected and managed by the county board. 4. _Poor-relief and correction._ The function of providing public poor-relief is to some extent performed by the state and municipal authorities but a good deal of the responsibility still rests upon the county boards. 5. _Elections._ In most states of the West and South the county board has charge of the local arrangements for state and national elections. It designates the polling places, appoints the election officers, and provides the ballots. The county, in most of the states, serves as the unit for the selection of senators and assemblymen in the state legislature. 6. _Miscellaneous._ Finally, the county boards have sundry other functions. Occasionally they grant charters of incorporation to companies. In some states they construct irrigation works and arrange for the abolition of grade crossings on railroads. They often help in the selection of jurors and have authority to grant certain licenses. [Sidenote: The faults of county government.]