sentences:  In most Midwestern and Northeastern states, counties are further subdivided into townships or towns, which sometimes exercise local powers or administration.Throughout the United States, counties may contain other independent, self-governing municipalities.In New England, counties function at most as judicial court districts and sheriff's departments (presently, in Connecticut only as judicial court districts—and in Rhode Island, they have lost both those functions and all others), and most of the governmental authority below the state level is in the hands of towns and cities.