Capitalizing nouns: Are these "common" conventions "proper"?

Reader Pam sent Word-wise a question nearly two weeks ago (eek! Apologies for the long delay!) regarding capitalization. It's a good one. Here's the question, altered a bit to preserve a client's anonymity:

When capitalizing or not capitalizing "state," does it make any difference if you're referring to the state as a state, or the state as an employer? I know it's, "I'm going to the state of Massachusetts," but what about when it's your employer.
I work for the [S]state of Massachusetts.

I work for the [S]state.

As an employee of the [S]state, do you have [S]state health insurance?

The above would not be transcription for a government agency.

But, I did read somewhere that government entities often capitalize "county," for instance, when referring to themselves, if I understood that correctly. One of my clients, Midfield County, always capitalizes "County" when referring to Midfield (and City when referring to Capital City [Midfield's county seat]). I'm assuming this is not the correct way normally, but is okay within their documents?

To answer these questions, we must consider two underlying concepts: common nouns vs. proper nouns, and in-house style.

common noun: a general, nonspecific noun; a word that could refer to one of any number of objects, persons, etc. of its kind
Ex: woman, car, sea, apple, rodent, composer

proper noun: a specific noun that identifies a particular individual
Ex: Jeannine, Corvette, Mediterranean Sea, Red Delicious, Mickey Mouse, Aaron Copeland

In most circumstances* the word state, defined as a semi-autonomous region within the jurisdiction of a larger governing body (Utah is a state within the United States), is a common noun. The word can be used to name any of the states. It is nonspecific, hence, not capitalized.

That said, Pam's conclusion in the question above is still correct: It would not be just "okay" but absolutely expected to capitalize State, even though it's a common noun, in order to conform to the county's established practice.

It may not be comfortable for usage purists (I know! I hear you!), but sometimes we must cross the line between what's strictly proper, and what's historically accepted and expected within an organization.

In Midfield County, capitalization appears to be an in-house style preference that both signals respect for the region as an entity, and provides for consistency throughout its entire collection of internal documents (since "County" and "City" are treated the same way). However odd we find it, and however much it may seem to contradict the rule, I would advise conforming to this capitalization practice when working with Midfield documents.

Even the often-uncompromising Chicago Manual of Style acknowledges the occasional necessity for this kind of departure. From Section 8.65:

For consistency, however...[capitalizing] the organization and its adherents, in both noun and adjective forms, will prevent editorial headaches.

(If you have access to Chicago's 16th Edition, refer to sections 8.61-8.68 for a much more thorough discussion of when to/not to capitalize government and organization terms.)

Perhaps there's one final issue: Midfield County is located in one of four U.S. regions (Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) that officially identify themselves commonwealths, not states. But let's just sidestep that consideration, shall we? That question is traditional and legal rather than linguistic, and this discussion is already dense enough!

Readers, what examples have you run across in which a standard English practice is intentionally, consistently altered to achieve some specific goal? What other instances of proper vs. common noun usage or noun capitalization can cause confusion? All related comments and questions are welcome.

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*In a rarer non-local context, State (note the capital S) may be defined as "an independent self-governing body," roughly synonymous with "country."

The United Nations resolved that it would impose sanctions against the State [referring to one specific, previously named country] until such time as human rights investigators are admitted.