Commissioner
A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r)[1] is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something).
In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to include a variety of senior officials, often sitting on a specific commission. In particular, the commissioner frequently refers to senior
There is some confusion between commissioners and commissaries because other European languages use the same word for both. Therefore titles such as commissaire in French, Kommissar in German[a] and comisario in Spanish or commissario in Italian, can mean either commissioner or commissary in English, depending on the context.
Domestic public official
A commissioner within a modern state generally holds his or her office by a commission from the head of state or a council of elected representatives (or appointed by non-elected officials in the case of dictatorships).
Canadian territories
Commissioners are the formal heads of the
Current Canadian commissioners
Symbol of office | Territory | Current commissioner | Commissioner since |
---|---|---|---|
Northwest Territories | Margaret Thom | September 18, 2017 | |
Nunavut | Eva Aariak | January 14, 2021 | |
Yukon | Adeline Webber | May 31, 2023 |
Imperial China
Senior public servants, commissioners and other high-ranking bureaucrats referred to collectively as mandarins.
Isle of Man
In the local government system of the Isle of Man, a commissioner is an elected representative equivalent to a councillor. All town, village, district and parish local government bodies consist of commissioners, except for Douglas, which has a council and councillors.
Malawi
Scotland
Prior to the
United States
Current
In many U.S. states, the legislative and executive decision-making bodies of counties are called the board of commissioners or county commission.[5][6][7]
In Minnesota,[8] Alaska,[9][10]New Hampshire, New York,[11] Texas and Tennessee, the heads of some statewide departments are called "commissioners".
In California, court commissioners are subordinate judicial officers granted many of the same authorities as judges, though not all.[12][13]
In some states certain municipalities may have a planning or zoning authority composed of local officials or members of the public.[14][15][16] These authorities can be called commissions with the members addressed as "commissioners."[17]
Historic
In the past, the U.S. government-appointed special commissioners for a variety of tasks. For example, the head of the
Until 1968, federal courts appointed commissioners to perform routine judicial duties such as taking testimony, taking bail, and even enforcing laws such as the
General
Police
In police services in the Commonwealth of Nations and the United States, the title of commissioner typically designates the head of an entire police force.[citation needed]
In other countries, such as Latin American countries, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, etc., a commissioner is typically the commander of a major police station or a locally/regionally important police service. The equivalent ranks in the police forces of the United States and the United Kingdom are respectively captain and superintendent.[citation needed]
Other emergency services
In
International public and colonial context
British and Commonwealth overseas possessions
The title of commissioner or district commissioner, as such, was used by the (gubernatorial) chief British official in:
- deputy commissionerand lower than a secretary (now principal secretary) in the provincial capital.
- British Central Africa
- Territories of Zambesia and Rhodesia, administered under charter by the British South Africa Company
- The Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, hence under a high commissioner
- The Caribbean Turks and Caicos Islands, 1874 – 4 July 1959, as a dependency under the governor of Jamaica colony
- The concession territory (held from China) from 1902 to 1938
- People's Republic of South Yemen.
- The Special Residentsucceeding himself till 1956) to 1 October 1961 when Southern British Cameroons was incorporated into the independent Republic of Cameroon (former French mandate of Cameroun), after the northern part united with Nigeria on 1 June 1961.
The title of commissioner was also used by the senior diplomatic representatives of Commonwealth countries in British colonies, such as:
- People's Republic of Chinain 1997, after which they became known as consuls-general.
- Singapore, prior to independence in 1965, after which they became known as high commissioners.
Canada
Canada calls its government officials in charge of export promotion "
European Union
The European commissioners are the members of the European Commission, the cabinet of the European Union. Commissioners’ role closely resembles that of the ministers of the Union’s member states; each is assigned a portfolio under the authority of the president of the EU Commission, but they make important decisions collegially, often subject to approval by the European Parliament and/or the Council of the European Union, the two organs of the EU’s bicameral legislature.
French colonies
The French equivalent, commissaire, was used for various officials employed at different levels of the colonial administration in several French-ruled countries.
Russian Empire
After on 17 April 1914
United Nations administration
A UN commissioner appointed in 1949 supervised the transition of the
United States
From the mid-19th century until 1939, two U.S. government
U.S. Department of Agriculture
During the 19th century, the
Noted American author
I was proud to observe that among our excursionists were three ministers of the gospel, eight doctors, sixteen or eighteen ladies, several military and naval chieftains with sounding titles, an ample crop of "Professors" of various kinds, and a gentleman who had "COMMISSIONER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA" thundering after his name in one awful blast! I had carefully prepared myself to take rather a back seat in that ship because of the uncommonly select material that would alone be permitted to pass through the camel's eye of that committee on credentials; I had schooled myself to expect an imposing array of military and naval heroes and to have to set that back seat still further back in consequence of it may be, but I state frankly that I was all unprepared for this crusher.
I fell under that titular avalanche a torn and blighted thing. I said that if that potentate must go over in our ship, why, I supposed he must – but that to my thinking, when the United States considered it necessary to send a dignitary of that tonnage across the ocean, it would be in better taste, and safer, to take him apart and cart him over in sections in several ships.
Ah, if I had only known then that he was only a common mortal, and that his mission had nothing more overpowering about it than the collecting of seeds and uncommon yams and extraordinary cabbages and peculiar bullfrogs for that poor, useless, innocent, mildewed old fossil the Smithsonian Institute [sic], I would have felt so much relieved.[24]
U.S. Department of Commerce
Following unification of the
Non-public entities
The Salvation Army
In
Scouting
Within the
Boy Scouts of America
Commissioners are district and council leaders who help Scout units succeed. They coach and consult with adult leaders of Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, and Venturing crews. Commissioners help maintain the standards of the Boy Scouts of America.[28]
Sports
In many North American
The title was first used in 1920, when Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed Commissioner of Baseball in the aftermath of the Black Sox Scandal. Landis was titled "commissioner" partly to distinguish his office from that of the "president" of the American and National Leagues. Landis' title derived from the National Commission, the ruling body for baseball established in 1903, when the two leagues were largely autonomous organizations. The commission originally consisted of three members. Desperate to restore public confidence in their sport's integrity, baseball owners agreed to appoint Landis as the game's sole commissioner after he rebuffed their offer of a position at the head of a reformed commission. Baseball owners also gave Landis absolute power and a lifetime contract,[dubious ] which permitted the former judge to assume more power over the sport than a commissioner in any sport has held since.[citation needed]
The other major professional sports leagues of North America followed suit, either replacing their positions of league president with that of the commissioner or appointing a commissioner and reducing the position of league president to a mere figurehead role. The National Football League appointed its first commissioner in 1941. The NFL, which in its early years faced several rival leagues, intended its commissioner's office to be analogous to the one then held by Landis in baseball, with authority over all of professional football. The NFL's rivals responded by appointing their own commissioners (thereby explicitly rejecting the NFL commissioner's authority). Finally in 1966, the American Football League agreed to abolish their commissioner's office and recognize the authority of then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle in exchange for the NFL agreeing to a merger with its most successful rival. This did not result in any formal change to Rozelle's title or even in his powers, since the NFL constitution already purportedly granted him extensive power over other professional leagues. Nevertheless he became informally known as the football commissioner until 1970 when the merger was finalized and the AFL was fully absorbed into the NFL. No rival U.S. football league has recognized the NFL commissioner's authority since 1970, although no such league has lasted longer than three seasons.
In Canadian football, the title of commissioner dates to no later than the 1940s. Like many of the NFL's rivals south of the border, the top Canadian football leagues then in existence (the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and Western Interprovincial Football Union) appointed commissioners in a bid to assert their leagues' independence from the NFL commissioner. When the two leagues formed an umbrella organization (the Canadian Football Council) in 1956, the posts of IRFU commissioner and WIFU commissioner were abolished and former WIFU Commissioner Sydney Halter was appointed commissioner of the CFC. When the CFC itself evolved into the modern Canadian Football League in 1958, Halter carried on in the office as that league's first commissioner.
The
The use of "commissioner" has been less prevalent in top-level women's leagues. When the NBA founded the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 1996, it chose to use the title of "president" for that league's chief executive, and did not use the title of "commissioner" for that position until 2019.[29] The National Women's Soccer League, founded in 2012 with play starting in 2013, initially called its chief executive "commissioner", but that position had been vacant after the resignation of the league's second commissioner, Jeff Plush, shortly before the 2017 season.[30] The NWSL's highest office was styled as "president"[31] until the "commissioner" title was reinstated when Lisa Baird filled that post in 2020.[32]
In general, the commissioners' powers and responsibilities in the NFL, NBA and NHL are not substantially different from those of the presidents that preceded them. Although baseball's subsequent commissioners have not had the absolute power that Landis did, former Commissioner Bud Selig has succeeded in centralizing authority over Major League Baseball in the commissioner's office, relegating the position of league president to an honorary title and giving baseball's commissioner competencies similar to those of his colleagues in the other major sports.[citation needed]
Many minor professional and amateur leagues throughout the United States and Canada have also appointed commissioners. The title has not caught on outside North America. In Great Britain, the title chief executive is used for the most closely equivalent position in that country's professional leagues. A key difference between the state of affairs in North America and Europe is that most European sports (including those in Great Britain) include powerful governing bodies that operate independently of and hold some power over the professional leagues, whereas in North America the equivalent governing bodies' de facto authority is mostly confined to amateur sport. For example, while the Premier League is roughly as lucrative and wealthy as the "Big Four" North American leagues, the Football Association nevertheless has the power to veto the appointment of that league's chief executive.
The Australian Football League is governed by the AFL Commission, whose members are called commissioners. However, the head of the commission, who is the closest equivalent to a North American sports commissioner, is formally titled the chairman, and is never referred to as a commissioner.
Current commissioners of the North American professional leagues are
Compound titles
In many cases, the term commissioner is part of a more specific title, including English renditions of such titles in other languages. Examples (in some cases there are further compounds) include:
- Assistant commissioner
- Chief commissioner
- Civil commissioner
- Commissioner of finance
- Commissioner of public lands
- Commissioner of public works
- Commissioner-General
- Deputy commissioner
- District commissioner
- Divisional commissioner
- Extraordinary commissioner
- Fire commissioner
- Football match commissioner[33]
- High commissioner
- Imperial commissioner
- Insurance commissioner
- Judicial commissioner
- Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
- Lord High Commissioner and its further compounds, notably Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland
- Military and civil commissioner
- Park commissioner
- Police commissioner
- Territorial commissioner
- Resident Commissioner
- Royal commissioner
- Scout commissioner
- Special commissioner
- Trade commissioner
See also
- Ombudsman
- List of commissioners of the New South Wales Police
- List of Northwest Territories commissioners
- List of Nunavut commissioners
- List of Yukon commissioners
References
- ^ "Should It Be "Commissioner", "Comm'r", or "Commr."?". citeblog.access-to-law.com. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ Northwest Territories Act, enacted as s. 2 of the Northwest Territories Devolution Act, S.C. 2014, c. 2.
- ^ Yukon Act, S.C. 2002, c. 7, as it appeared on 2020‑03‑05.
- ^ Nunavut Act, S.C. 1993, c. 28, as it appeared on 2020‑03‑05.
- ^ League of Minnesota Cities (2021-06-16). "Local Government in Minnesota" (PDF). Handbook for Minnesota Cities. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ Peoples, Brandon (2023-03-20). "Riley County Commission to hold quarterly meetings in smaller communities". Manhattan KS News Radio KMAN. Manhattan Broadcasting Company. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ Rules and Regulations (PDF). Murfreesboro, Tenn., US: Rutherford County Board of Commissioners. 2022-06-16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ Griffith, Michelle (2022-12-21). "Gov. Tim Walz appoints six new commissioners". Minnesota Reformer. Archived from the original on 2023-03-23. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
- ^ Division of Personnel and Labor Relations. Introduction to State Government, New Employee Orientation. Juneau, Alaska, US: Alaska Department of Administration. Archived from the original on 2023-03-16. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
- ^ "Governor Names Natural Resources and Health Commissioners". Alaska Business. Anchorage, US: Alaska Business Publishing Co. 2022-12-22. Archived from the original on 2023-03-23. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
- ^ About the Commissioner. New York Department of Taxation and Finance. Archived from the original on 2023-03-23.
- ^ Judicial Council of California (2016-04-14). Invitation to Comment (PDF) (LEG16-01 ed.). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-03-23. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
- ^ Sacramento Superior Court. court-commissioner-job.pdf (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-03-23. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
- ^ City of Waukegan (2014-01-14). Planning and Zoning Commission Rules of Procedure. Civic Plus. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-03-16. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ County of Benton. "Planning Commission". Benton County, Washington - Official Website. Municipal One. Archived from the original on 2023-01-26. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ City of Minneapolis. "Planning Commission". Legislative Information Management System. Archived from the original on 2022-03-20. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ League of Minnesota Cities (2020-06-04). Planning Commission Guide (PDF). p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-20. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "History of the Federal Judiciary | Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ^ "Doing Business Abroad: The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service". Archived from the original on December 17, 2009. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
- ^ Clem, Alan L. (July 1960). The U.S. Agricultural Attaché, His History and His Work, FAS M-91. Washington: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.
- ^ Mustard, Allan (2003). A study of management doctrines and leadership philosophies of selected organizations with international missions. Arlington, Virginia: Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. pp. vi, 85 leaves : col. ill., 28 cm. Archived from the original on 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
- ^ U.S. Department of Agriculture. Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture. issues of 1883–1885. Washington: USGPO.
- ^ U.S. Department of Agriculture. Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. issues of 1893, 1903, 1905, 1920, 1922, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1954. Washington: USGPO.
- ^ "Twain, Mark, 1835–1910. Innocents Abroad, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library". Archived from the original on 2005-03-12.
- ^ Official Register of the United States Government. issues of 1883, 1885, 1889, 1891, 1893, 1899, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1925–1959. Washington: USGPO.
- LCCN 09022072.
- ^ Info on TSA ranks and terminology
- ^ "Commissioners".
- ^ Voepel, Mechelle (May 15, 2019). "WNBA tabs CEO Engelbert as 1st commissioner". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
- ^ Halloran, John D. (May 8, 2017). "Amanda Duffy Addresses NWSL Present and Future". American Soccer Now. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
- ^ "Amanda Duffy named President of NWSL" (Press release). National Women’s Soccer League. January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^ "National Women's Soccer League names Lisa Baird as Commissioner" (Press release). NWSL. February 27, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "Match Commissioners". Home Page | Football West. West Perth, WA, Australia: FOOTBALL Network. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2023.