Local Authority

A local authority is a public body of governance concerning a small group or community. A local authority can be defined as a local city council, county, and may extend to law enforcement officials. They may serve a small district, town, parish, village, borough, county, province or state. A local authority differs from the government (which may be referred to in specific cases as a central government or national government, depending on the given political structure of public administration) in that they tend to take charge concerning local matters, that is, legal, political or social issues in the vicinity of the community they oversee. A local authority is usually the first point of action for legal proceedings.