Polk County is home to nearly 500,000 residents, of which about 200,000 live in one of 17 municipalities. A single Polk County School District operates an extensive system of schools for students from grades K-12. Other county services are funded and directed by the Board of County Commissioners.

An array of Constitutional Officers, directly elected, control other functions county-wide, including the Supervisor of Elections, Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, Clerks of Court, and Sheriff.

The municipalities range from Lakeland's population of about 75,000, to Highland Park, with about 220 citizens.
Some links to local government:

Polk County Board of County Commissioners
http://www.ci.polk.fl.us/
General and contact information provided on various county services by the Polk County Board of County Commissioners. An excellent source of phone numbers.

City of Lake Wales
http://www.cityoflakewales.com
A comprehensive site offering a wealth of information about Lake Wales city government and services. Here are also a number of links to area services attractions.

Polk County Constitutional Officers

Clerk of the Courts, Richard Weiss
http://jud10.flcourts.org/clerk.htm


Public Defender, Marion Moorman
http://jud10.flcourts.org/pd.htm


State Attorney, Jerry Hill
http://jud10.flcourts.org/sa.htm

Florida Government

An Index to Florida Government
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/citizen/documents/www/index.html

The Florida Legislature home page
http://www.leg.state.fl.us

Florida Game and Fish Commission
http://fcn.state.fl.us/gfc/gfchome.html


Department of Environmental Protection
http://www.dep.state.fl.us
Good links page, download environmental regulations

Florida Division of Forestry
http://flame.doacs.state.fl.us/
Learn about the role of fire in Florida's ecology, links to two local state forests

The South Florida Water Management District
http://www.sfwmd.gov.

Polk County Judicial links

Florida's 10th Judicial Circuit
http://jud10.flcourts.org/index.htm


County Judge Anne Kaylor
http://www.fl.judges.com/kaylor.htm


"JOSHUA"
http://www.flcourts.org/
The Judicial Online Super-Highway User Access system, is a state-wide information system serving Florida's Judiciary.