New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Two of the state's largest cities, New Haven (2nd) and Waterbury (5th), are part of New Haven County.

New Haven County comprises the New Haven-Milford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area.

County governments were abolished in Connecticut in 1960. Thus, as is the case with all eight of Connecticut's counties, there is no county government, and no county seat. Until 1960, the city of New Haven was the county seat. In Connecticut, towns are responsible for all local government activities, including fire and rescue, snow removal and schools. In some cases, neighboring towns will share certain activities, e.g. schools, health, etc. New Haven County is merely a group of towns on a map, and has no specific government authority. The county Sheriff system was abolished by voters and replaced by State Judicial Marshals in 2000. As a result, the state judicial system in New Haven County has three judicial districts: New Haven, Ansonia-Milford, and Waterbury.

source: wikipedia.org