Interlocal agreement
Definition
An interlocal agreement is a contract between two or more local governments, cities, counties, or school districts, to jointly provide or share a service, like policing, jail space, libraries, or utilities, instead of each running it separately.
Why it matters
Interlocal agreements can save money through shared services, but they also blur accountability. If a resident has a complaint about policing or water service delivered under an interlocal contract, it may not be clear which government's elected officials are actually responsible, since the service is run by, or on behalf of, a different jurisdiction entirely.
Seen in the wild
Small cities and towns nationwide commonly contract with their county sheriff's office for police services through an interlocal agreement rather than maintaining a separate municipal police department, a widespread arrangement documented in interlocal-agreement guides published by state associations of counties and municipal leagues.1