Who runs local government in Romania?

Romania has two elected levels: 41 counties plus Bucharest, and 3,181 local units (103 cities, 216 towns and 2,862 rural communes). Mayors and county council presidents are directly elected. In each county a prefect, appointed by the government, represents the state and can challenge local decisions in court.

Romania · Unitary republic · Eastern Europe

The levels of government below the nation

Level	How it is chosen	What it does
Counties – județe (41) and Bucharest	County council and its president directly elected every four years (last in June 2024)	County roads, hospitals, child protection, regional planning; co-ordinates communes.
Prefectures (42)	Prefect appointed by the Government	Represents the state, oversees deconcentrated services, checks legality of local acts.
Cities (municipii), towns (orașe) and communes (comune) – 3,181	Local council and mayor (primar) directly elected every four years	Local roads, water, schools' buildings, social assistance, local police, planning. Communes contain more than 12,000 villages with no government of their own.
Bucharest sectors (6)	Each sector has an elected mayor and council, alongside the General Mayor of Bucharest	District services in the capital.

Three questions about local power in Romania

Are local leaders elected?

Mayors, local councils, county councils and county council presidents are directly elected. Prefects are appointed. Development region councils are indirect.

Which laws set up local government?

The Constitution (Articles 120–123) and the 2019 Administrative Code set the system. Roma traditional leadership and church influence are informal.

Who are local leaders accountable to?

Voters can recall a mayor by referendum; the prefect can challenge illegal acts in the administrative court, which suspends them; the Court of Accounts audits budgets.

Traditional and customary authority

No customary authority is recognised in law. The Romanian Orthodox Church is socially influential and priests are respected village figures, but they have no formal power. Some Roma communities have traditional leaders (bulibașa) who may speak for the group, but the role has no legal status.

Community and neighbourhood power

Villages inside communes have no elected council of their own. Residents can take part through public consultations, local referendums and associations. Eight development regions run EU funds; their councils are made up of county council presidents and local representatives, not directly elected.

Points to know

The Constitution says there is no hierarchy between county councils and local councils: each is autonomous in its own field.
Bucharest is both a municipality and a county-level unit, with a General Mayor plus six sector mayors.
Where a national minority makes up over 20% of residents, it can use its language with local authorities (for example Hungarian in parts of Transylvania).

Local terms

Județ: County, with an elected council and president.
Comună: Rural municipality made up of one or more villages.
Prefect: Government-appointed representative of the state in a county.

Sources

Constitution of Romania (1991, rev. 2003), Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
Romania: country profile (territorial organisation, responsibilities, finance), OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment (SNG-WOFI), checked 14 October 2026
Permanent Electoral Authority, Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (Romania), checked 14 October 2026