This is a list of the eighty-eight counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The Ohio Constitution allows counties to set up a charter government as many cities an villages do, but only Summit County has done so. Counties do not possess home rule powers and can do only what has been expressly authorized by the Ohio General Assembly. Ohio law defines a structure for county government, although each county may choose to define its own. Summit County has chosen an alternate structure, while all of the other counties use the default structure. The elected county officials include a sheriff (the highest law enforcement officer in the county); prosecutor (equivalent of a district attorney in other states); coroner, engineer, auditor, treasurer and clerk of courts.