The county seat and population center is Flint (birthplace of General Motors).

[3] Genesee County comprises the Flint, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Genesee County is noted for having had the fossil of an ancient whale known as Balaenoptera Lacepede[4] unearthed in Thetford Township during quarry work and estimated at 11,000 years old.

(Atlas and Davision township survey areas were then in Lapeer County.)

With this act just a week after Michigan's admission as a state, the county was fully cover with 5 township governments.

Fifteen northerly sections of survey area township 7 north range No.

Pewanagawink took the westernmost survey area from Vienna and changed its name to Montrose by act of January 15, 1848.

[12] Flint Community Junior College was turned into a county-wide institution with a referendum and millage proposal passing the voters in 1969.

[14] As of December 2011, County Counsel Ward Chapman was intending to retire by the end of the year raising the possibility again of a merger.

[17] In July 2010, the County Board voted to merge the clerk and register of deeds offices, effective January 1, 2013.

[18] On October 26, 2010, Genesee County became a founding member of the Karegnondi Water Authority with Board of Commissioners Chair Jamie W. Curtis representing the County on the Authority Board.

[22] Most of the land in the county is very flat, but the southern end is hilly and covered by several lakes.

[citation needed] The 2010 United States Census[28] indicates Genesee County had a 2010 population of 425,790.

18.0% were of German, 11.0% Irish, 10.6% English, 5.5% Polish 5.4% American and 4.8% French ancestry.

The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains vital records, administers public health regulations and safeguards public health, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services.

The county board of commissioners controls the budget but has only limited authority to make laws or ordinances.

In Michigan, most local government functions—police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc.—are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.

Genesee County, except for the City of Flint, is under the jurisdiction of the 67th District Court of Michigan.

[31] Genesee County is a founding member of the Karegnondi Water Authority[19] The "outcounty" area (all but the city of Flint) receives library services from the Genesee District Library.

Commission president is Joe Krapohl with Barry June as acting director.

[12] In January 2018, Genesee County Parks & Recreation purchased land along the Kearsley Creek for $700,000 from the Poulos family, owners of the White Horse Tavern in Flint, with assistance from a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant.