Alcona County, Michigan

Alcona County is a of the  of. As of the, the population is 11,719. Its is.

History
The county was created by the state legislature on,. It was at first named "Negwegon County", after the name of a well-known chief, also known as "Little Wing", who was an American ally against the British in the. It was renamed to Alcona County on, , after a manufactured by  from parts of words from various languages meaning "fine or excellent plain".

Initially, it was attached to for administrative purposes. The attachment shifted to in 1853, to  in 1857,  in 1858, and  in 1859. , then comprising the entire county, was organized in 1860. County government was organized in 1869.

Government
The county government operates the, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains, administers regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. The controls the budget but has only limited authority to make laws or ordinances. In Michigan, most local government functions &mdash; police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc. &mdash; are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.

Alcona County elected officials

 * : Thomas J. Weichel
 * : Douglas Atchison
 * : Patricia A. Truman
 * : Anna McCoy
 * : Karen V. Healy
 * Road Commissioners: Al Scully; Richard A. Karsen, Sr.; Everett M. Schram

(information as of September 2005)

Alcona County has been forced to explore options to remedy a major budget shortfall resulting from an official's embezzlement. Former County Treasurer Thomas Katona pleaded guilty in June 2007 to charges that he robbed taxpayers of over 1.2 million dollars. Katona had been induced to send the money overseas as part of a Nigerian scheme.

Katona was sentenced to 9-14 years imprisonment on June 12, 2007 by the 23rd Circuit Court. Judge William Myles said Katona's crimes warranted more severe punishment than called for in state sentencing guidelines, due to the amount of money involved and the number of victims in the case.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 4,637 (1,791 ). 1,747 km² (674 sq mi) of it is land and 2,891 km² (1,116 sq mi) of it (62.33%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 11,719 people, 5,132 households, and 3,566 families residing in the county. The was 7/km² (17/sq mi). There were 10,584 housing units at an average density of 6/km² (16/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 98.04%, 0.16% or , 0.62% , 0.18% , 0.01% , 0.06% from , and 0.93% from two or more races. 0.69% of the population were or  of any race. 98.2% spoke as their first language.

There were 5,132 households out of which 20.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.10% were living together, 5.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.50% were non-families. 26.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.67.

In the county the population was spread out with 19.00% under the age of 18, 4.60% from 18 to 24, 20.90% from 25 to 44, 31.00% from 45 to 64, and 24.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females there were 102.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,362, and the median income for a family was $35,669. Males had a median income of $29,712 versus $20,566 for females. The for the county was $17,653. About 9.10% of families and 12.60% of the population were below the, including 17.80% of those under age 18 and 9.00% of those age 65 or over.

Townships




Unincorporated communities




Major highways

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