Public Defender

Just east of San Francisco Bay lies Alameda county. The county, which is governed by a five-member board of supervisors, includes the major cities of Hayward, Oakland, San Leandro, and Livermore. Fifty county departments handle services like behavioral health care, emergency medical, and human resources along with law enforcement, property tax assessment and collection, and community development. It also serves as the county record keeper, holding birth, death, and marriage certificates and other public records. The county's budget is $2.4 billion; most of it goes to public assistance and health care. Alameda County was incorporated in 1853 from parts of neighboring Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties.