Jefferson County, Alabama

Jefferson County is the most densely populated in the  of, the  being. As of 2000, the population of Jefferson County was 662,047. Jefferson County is the most populated and principal county in the.

History
Jefferson County was established on, by the Alabama legislature. It was named in honor of. The county is located in the north-central portion of the state, on the southern extension of the Appalachians, in the center of the iron, coal and limestone belt of the South. Jefferson County is bordered by, , , , , and counties. It encompasses 1,119 square miles. The county seat was at Carrollsville from 1819-21, at Elyton from 1821-73, and since 1873 has been at, which was named for England's iron and steel center in Warwickshire.

Government and Law
Jefferson County is one of the few counties in Alabama that has a limited-form of government. This limited ability of home rule allows the county to be able to land use zoning, maintenance sewer system and roads,, and to enforce taxation (except property taxes). The county is governed by a five-member commission with legislative and executive duties. The Commissioners are elected by a vote of the district that they represent instead of an "at large" election as was done in the past. Each individual county commissioner represents one of the five individual districts in the county. By commission vote they are given executive responsibilities for the departments that fall under the categories of Roads and Transportation and Community Development, Environmental Services, Health and Human Services, Technology and Land Development, or Finance and General services. The commission elects its own President, who chairs commission meetings and has additional executive duties. The current commission President is.

Jefferson County is served by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff is chosen in an "at large" election. The current sheriff of Jefferson County is Mike Hale. The department fields about 175 officers who patrol the unincorporated areas of the county and municipalities that do not have their own police. They maintain jails in Birmingham and Bessemer that house inmates awaiting trial and serving sentences.

The judicial system of Jefferson County is unique within the state because there are two judicial courthouses in the county. This came about when the state legislature made preparations to split off a portion of Jefferson county to create a new county with Bessemer as its county seat. The idea was dropped but the additional courthouse and parallel positions remain. The main courthouse is in Birmingham and the second is located in Bessemer. There are elected officials who maintain offices in the annex such as the Assistant Tax Collector, Assistant Tax Assessor, and Assistant District Attorney.

Taxation
Jefferson County has a 1¢ sales tax on each dollar on anything from groceries to clothing items. In January 2005, a controversial addition 1% educational sales tax for the funding of construction of education facilities came into effect. This controversial tax was approved with a 3-2 vote by the County Commission in October 2004. Commissioners Gary White and Bettye Fine Collins voted against the tax; while Larry Langford, Sheila Smoot, and Mary Buckelew voted in favor. This additional 1¢ has led county municipalities like to have sales tax rates as high as 10¢ on the dollar while other municipalities and incorporated communities saw an increase in their total sales tax rate from 8% to 9%. The educational sales tax as well as the county's limited ability to self-govern has been the subject of an attempted repeal by the during the  regular legislative session though the repeal of either (particularly self-government) is highly unlikely. It should be noted that the state of Alabama sales tax is 4% and Jefferson County's is 2% in total. Municipal sales taxes go as high as 4%.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,911 km² (1,124 square miles). Nearly 2,882 km² (1,113 sq mi) of it is land, and 29 km² (11 sq mi) of it (1.00%) is water.

Major Highways

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Jefferson County will be the eastern terminus for  when completed.

Adjacent Counties

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Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 662,047 people, 263,265 households, and 175,861 families residing in the county. The was 230/km² (595/sq mi). There were 288,162 housing units at an average density of 100/km² (259/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 58.10%, 39.36% or , 0.21% , 0.90% , 0.03% , 0.59% from , and 0.80% from two or more races. Nearly 1.55% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 263,265 households, out of which 30.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.10% were living together, 17.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.20% were non-families. Nearly 28.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45, and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.80% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.50 males.

In 2007 Jefferson County had the highest rate of syphilis cases per 100,000 in the US, according to data from the.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,868, and the median income for a family was $45,951. Males had a median income of $35,954 versus $26,631 for females. The for the county was $20,892. About 11.60% of families and 14.80% of the population were below the, including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 12.70% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

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Education
Except for cities that have established their own local school districts, all parts of Jefferson County outside of the city limits of Birmingham are served by. Parts within Birmingham are served by. Other cities in the county that have established their own school systems are, , , , , , , , , and.