Capitalize City, County, State as Specific Entity or Lawsuit Party
Capitalization
Rulebase Summary
Capitalize the words 'city,' 'county,' and 'state' when they are parties to the lawsuit or when they refer to a specific entity (City of Los Angeles, the State, the County). Do not capitalize when they refer to the trees, buildings, and streets of a place (the city of Los Angeles in a generic sense, the state of California, the county line). When 'city' is part of an actual city name (Culver City, Salt Lake City), it is always capitalized.
Examples
A. Her paycheck comes from the city of Los Angeles.
A. Her paycheck comes from the City of Los Angeles.
Refers to the entity — capitalize.
A. He lives in the State of California.
A. He lives in the state of California.
Generic geographic reference — lowercase.
Transcript Notes
This principle extends beyond city, county, and state: any word that stands for a party to the lawsuit should be capitalized — the Defense, the Prosecution, the People, the Union, the Government. (Source: Margie Wakeman Wells, blog post expanding on this rule.)
Style Guide References (1)
BGGP