California splits public responsibilities across many overlapping layers of government. It has fifty-eight counties, 482 cities, more than a thousand school districts, and roughly three thousand special districts.
The entity which has authority in any given case often does not match intuition. The result is a common sight in California civic life: a disgruntled voter blaming an official who does not control the thing they are angry about.
Housing: Who decides what gets built?
Cities, and counties for unincorporated areas, hold zoning and permitting power. That is where projects are approved, shrunk, or stalled.
However, the state increasingly constrains local authorities’ influence. Housing-element law obligates cities to make community plans to meet state-assigned targets for housing construction. Recent state laws regarding accessory dwelling units (ADUs), mandates to streamline project approvals, and other housing policies override local discretion to some degree.
The “builder’s remedy” goes further: When a city lacks a state-compliant housing plan, developers can largely bypass local zoning restrictions to build what the city would otherwise block. The builder’s remedy was created in the 1990 amendments to the Housing Accountability Act, but it remained mostly dormant until it was formalized and strengthened by AB 1893 in 2024.
This reform provided clarity and firmer legal footing for developers while also imposing new density and site limits for builder’s remedy projects.
In short, the governor does not approve construction of apartment buildings. Your city council effectively does, until the city falls out of compliance and the builder’s remedy allows developers another path forward.
Homelessness: Who owns it?
No single government authority is charged with addressing homelessness, which is much of the problem. Counties run the health, behavioral health, and welfare systems that provide public services to homeless residents. Cities control shelter siting, provide policing, and enforce encampment policy.
The state supplies surge funding for local governments and imposes mandates on how homelessness is addressed. Meanwhile, continuums of care, such as regional homeless coalitions, coordinate federal grants.
As an example: When a tent appears on a sidewalk, the city decides whether to allow the encampment, the county manages the provision of public services for the individual, and the state funds both efforts, often inconsistently.
The result is that questions of accountability — “where did the money go, and what did it actually do?” — have to be asked at every level simultaneously.
Who administers schools, health care, and safety nets?
The overall pattern for these public services is that funding flows from the California Legislature and Congress to the local officials who provide the services.
Public schools: Elected district school boards govern California’s public schools. The state supplies most money, see FAQ 11—School Funding, and sets academic standards. Congress provides minor funding.
Medi-Cal: Administrators in California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) set state policy for Medi-Cal, but they must follow federal Medicaid restrictions and mandates in doing so. Local officials at county eligibility offices carry out state instructions, while private managed-care plans actually deliver the health care services. See FAQ 10—Medi-Cal. Funding comes from a mix of federal and state expenditures.
CalFresh and other welfare programs: These follow a similar administration and funding model. State policymakers comply with federal requirements, and the state programs are administered by county workers.
The result of these arrangements is that service providers and even program administrators often have limited ability to adjust policy to accommodate individual situations, but that doesn’t stop them from being blamed for systemic problems.
Who oversees police, courts, and prisons?
City councils and mayors select police chiefs, meaning that police departments answer to city hall. In contrast, sheriffs are independently elected county officials whose responsibility is patrolling unincorporated areas and running county jails. The California Highway Patrol is administered by the state.
District attorneys are elected county officials who decide whether to bring criminal charges against those suspected of crimes. The courts themselves are state funded.
Prisons are administered by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), but realignment reforms, AB 109 and AB 117 in 2011, shifted lower-level felony offenders to county jails and probation.
This means that “crime policy” is set by the Legislature, local governments, your county district attorney, and ballot measures like Proposition 47 (2014) and Proposition 36 (2024).
Enforcement and administration are split between city police chiefs and county sheriffs, as well as a mixture of state and local corrections officials.
Who administers California utilities?
Investor-owned electric utilities (PG&E, Southern California Edison, SDG&E) are regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
Municipal utilities (LADWP, SMUD) are overseen by dedicated local boards whose members can be directly elected, as in the case of SMUD, or appointed by the mayor, as in the case of LADWP. See FAQ 12—Energy Regulators for more information on California’s electric utilities.
In California, the State Water Project, administered by California, and Central Valley Project, federally administered, transport water from reservoirs to thousands of local water districts.
The large majority of local public water agencies operate as independent special districts whose officials are elected by their residents. Most others are municipal water districts whose administrators are selected by local elected officials. These districts own the local distribution infrastructure and set prices for water usage.
Other water rights are administered by a state board that interprets a century of layered laws and judicial rulings. The consequence of this arrangement is that the prices in your water bill and your nearby neighbor’s water bill can be set by entirely different governments.
The takeaway
Funding, regulations, and mandates flow from the legislature and Congress, as well as state and federal agencies. In comparison, public services and land-use regulations are the responsibility of local officials.
The specific accountability for outcomes is scattered across a variety of elected officials and offices that most voters cannot name.
When public policy fails in California, the honest first question should not be “who is in charge?” but “which of the five entities sharing responsibility failed this time?”
