Editing Prefectures in France (section)

==Role of the prefecture ==
There are 101 prefectures in [[France]], one for each department. The official in charge is the [[Prefect (France)|prefect]] ({{langx|fr|préfet}}). The prefecture is an administration that belongs to the [[Minister of the Interior (France)|Ministry of the Interior]]; it is therefore in charge of the delivery of identity cards, driving licenses, passports, residency and work permits for foreigners, vehicle registration, registration of [[voluntary association|associations]] (creation, status modification, dissolution), as well as of the management of the [[National Police (France)|National Police]] and [[firefighter]]s, although as of 2018, 79% of firefighters in France are part-time volunteers.

Prefectures are usually located near the geographic centre of their departments; they were originally chosen for being within a day's travel on horseback from anywhere in the department. Therefore, the largest settlement in a department may not always be its prefecture: the department of [[Marne (department)|Marne]], for example, has its prefecture at [[Châlons-en-Champagne]] despite the city of [[Reims]], near the [[Aisne]] border, being four times its size.

The prefect represents the national government at the local level and as such exercises the powers that are constitutionally attributed to the national government. The prefect issues ordinances written for the application of local law: to close a building that does not conform to safety codes, or modify vehicular traffic regulations (speed limit, construction permits).

The governing body of the department is the [[Departmental councils (France)|departmental council]] ({{langx|fr|Conseil départemental}}), which is elected through a system of [[Cantons of France|cantons]]. It is in charge of the building and maintenance of middle schools (''collèges'') and departmental roads, financial assistance to dependent people (disabled and elderly), as well as promotion of local economic development, amongst other matters. In the past, the prefect was head of the department, but since 1982, the [[List of presidents of departmental councils (France)|President of the Departmental Council]] has assumed the role of chief executive of the department.