Chapter 1
General Provisions
Article 1. Organising of County Government
The county is a higher territorial administrative unit of
the Republic of Lithuania, the governing of which shall be
organised by the Government through the governor of the county,
the Ministries and other Government institutions. The government
of the county is a constituent part of state administration.
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, upon the
recommendation of the Government, shall set or alter the limits
and centre of the county, give or change its name.
Article 2. Legal Basis of County Government
The county government shall be organised on the basis of the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, this Law, other laws
of the Republic of Lithuania, resolutions of the Seimas of the
Republic of Lithuania, decrees of the President of the Republic,
Government resolutions, as well as other legal acts passed by
other state institutions.
Article 3. Funds of the County
The funds that are necessary for the governing of the county
and for the discharge of functions of the governor shall be
appropriated from the state budget and other sources of
financing.
Chapter 2
COUNTY GOVERNOR AND HIS POWERS
Article 4. County Governor
The county governor shall be appointed and dismissed from
office by the Government upon the recommendation of the Prime
Minister.
A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania who has a diploma of
higher education may serve as county governor. The county
governor may not hold any other elective or appointive office, be
employed in public, non-government, or private business,
commercial or other institutions or enterprises, as well as to
receive any other salary with the exception of that established
according to his position, and a payment for creative activities.
The salary of the county governor shall be determined by the
Government.
The county governor shall be accountable to the Government
in the manner established by it.
The county governor shall have a deputy who shall be
appointed and dismissed from office by the Prime Minister upon
the recommendation of the county governor. The requirements that
apply to the county governor shall also apply to his deputy.
Article 5. The Tasks of the County Governor
The tasks of the county governor shall be:
1) to implement state policy in the spheres of social
maintenance, education, culture, health care, territorial
planning, monument protection, land use and protection, as well
as agriculture, environmental protection and other spheres, and
to implement state and inter-regional programmes;
2) to co-ordinate the activities of the ministries and other
structural subdivisions of Government institutions lying within
the limits of the county, as well as to co-ordinate the
activities of executive institutions of local authorities in
implementing regional programmes;
3) to provide for the priority trends of the county
development and prepare its programmes.
Article 6. Powers of the County Governor in the Spheres
of Education, Culture and Social Welfare
The county governor shall:
1) in the manner prescribed by law, establish, reorganise,
and liquidate state institutions and establishments of education,
culture, physical culture and sports, social assistance and care
lying within the county;
2) be responsible for the functioning and maintenance of
state institutions referred to in item 1 of this Article;
3) supervise the implementation of state general education,
cultural and social policy;
4) in conjunction with territorial labour exchanges, resolve
employment problems of the population.
Article 7. The Powers of the County Governor in the
Sphere of Health Activities
The county governor shall:
1) take part in determining priority trends in primary
health care activities;
2) in the prescribed manner, establish, maintain, reorganise
and liquidate county health care facilities _ hospitals,
polyclinics, health centres, hygiene centres and others;
3) organise statistical surveys of the health condition of
the population and analyse their changes;
4) organise the implementation of state inter-regional and
county health programmes;
5) provide recommendations to the Government to declare the
territory of the county the zone hazardous or harmful to health;
6) inform the county residents about the tendencies of their
health condition.
Article 8. The Powers of the County Governor in the
Sphere of Territorial Planning and Monument
Conservation
The county governor shall:
1) prepare documents of the general and special planning of
the county;
2) assemble and manage data bank of territorial planning and
the register of territorial planning data, as well as furnish
information to data banks of other levels;
3) furnish information, findings and recommendations for the
preparation of general and special plans of the territory of the
Republic of Lithuania;
4) establish conditions for the special planning of the
county territory and co-ordinate planning schemes;
5) establish conditions for the preparation of territorial
planning documents for municipalities and co-ordinate them;
6) perform state supervision of the design, construction,
and operation of public buildings, structures and equipment and
their legal registration;
7) in the prescribed manner, supervise territorial planning;
8) assemble topographic, geodetic and cartographic material;
9) protect cultural valuables and monuments, keep record of
them, and supervise monument conservation;
10) act as the client for the construction of structures
attributed to the county.
Article 9. The Powers of the County Governor in the
Sphere of Land Use Planning, Land Cadastre
and Agriculture
The county governor shall:
1) mange free state land stock, with the exception of land
transferred into the possession of the institutions of local
authorities;
2) organise works of state land cadastre, perform legal
registration of land;
3) implement land reform;
4) perform state regulation of land servitudes (ownership)
and land use, as well as state control of land use;
5) co-ordinate agricultural issues, allocate state
procurement quotas of agricultural produce;
6) control the use of chemicals for plant protection;
7) carry out state maintenance of land reclamation and
hydrotechnical equipment, organise the operation of state-owned
land reclamation and hydrotechnical equipment.
Article 10. The Powers of the County Governor in the
Sphere of the Utilisation of Natural
Resources and Environmental Protection
The county governor shall:
1) within the scope of his competence, determine the
utilisation limits of natural resources and control how they are
being observed;
2) organise the activities in protected territories
attributed to the county and take part in the management of other
protected territories ( with the exception of nature reserves);
3) in the prescribed manner and without exceeding his
powers, assess the impact of business activities on the
environment and co-ordinate the projects;
4) within the scope of his competence, exercise state
control over the condition, utilisation, recreation and
protection of forest;
5) without exceeding his powers, organise the management of
water bodies and the maintenance of protected strips and zones,
control how water bodies attributed to other economic entities
are being maintained;
6) organise ecological education.
Article 11. The Powers of the County Governor in Other
Spheres of Activities
The county governor shall, without exceeding his powers:
1) consider applications and requests of natural and legal
persons and adopt decisions with regard to them. Decisions of the
governor may be appealed against to court;
2) analyse the social, economic, and ecological condition of
the county and changes in it, and inform the population thereof;
3) oversee the implementation of the requirements provided
for in the Law on Competition;
4) register the statutes of non-government organisations,
the activities of which embrace the territory of more than one
municipality and the registered office of which is located in the
county centre or in another territory of the county, which is in
the urban or rural territory;
5) organise the maintenance of county ( district) roads;
6) register tractors, self-propelled vehicles, tractor
trailers and road building machines;
7) perform legal registration of buildings, structures and
apartments;
8) organise the liquidation of the consequences of natural
calamities and accidents, the search and rescue works.
The county governor shall also exercise other powers
established by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania and
Government resolutions.
Article 12. The Rights of the County Governor
When exercising the powers attributed to him, the County
Governor shall have the right to:
1) submit recommendations on issues relative to the county
territory for the preparation of state and regional programmes,
as well as to submit findings concerning the prepared state and
regional draft programmes;
2) submit recommendations to the Government and other state
governing institutions on issues of the development of the
county;
3) take part in the meetings of the Government when issues
concerning the competence of the county governor are being
considered, as well as in the meetings of other subdivisions of
Government and local authority institutions;
4) when necessary, to call up meetings of the heads of the
ministries and other subdivisions of Government institutions that
are located in the county, and to preside over them;
5) to suspend or repeal legal acts of enterprises,
institutions and organisations that are located within the limits
of the county, if they are not in conformity with the laws of the
Republic of Lithuania and Government resolutions;
6) to receive information from other state governing
institutions and local authority institutions, enterprises,
institutions and organisations on issues that are within his
competence;
7) in cases provided by laws, to take additional measures to
ensure the security of the population and their property and to
maintain order in the county;
8) to form expert commissions for the purpose of analysing
the issues attributed to his competence and for providing the
findings thereon;
9) to co-operate the funds of the municipalities for
carrying out the planned common works, when it is agreed upon;
10) in cases and according to the procedure established by
laws, to manage, apply and dispose of the state property;
11) in the established manner, to hold contests, organise
meetings, conferences and other events.
Chapter 3
STATE GOVERNING INSTITUTIONS IN THE COUNTY
Article 13. State Governing Institutions in the County
State governing institutions may, according to their type of
activities and with the prior consent of the Seimas or the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania, establish in the county
governing institutions and organisations subordinate to them.
Governing institutions and organisations subordinate to
state governing institutions shall act in the county in
accordance with the approved regulations of these institutions.
Chapter 4
RELATIONS OF THE COUNTY GOVERNOR
WITH GOVERNING INSTITUTIONS
OF THE MUNICIPALITIES AND THE STATE
Article 14. The Relations between the County Governor
and the Governing Institutions of the Local
Authority and the State
The county governor, when discharging the functions
attributed to him, and implementing the laws of the Republic of
Lithuania, other legal acts passed by the Seimas of the Republic
of Lithuania, the decrees of the President of the Republic and
resolutions of the Government, shall cooperate with the governing
institutions of municipalities and the state, as well as
governing institutions and organisations subordinate to them, and
the Government Representative.
State governing institutions established in the county
pursuant to the provisions of Article 13 of this Law shall not be
subordinate to the county governor. These institutions and
organisations must notify the county governor of their activities
in the county in the manner established by the Government.
When appointing chief executives of governing institutions
and organisations subordinate to them, Government institutions
shall hear the opinion of the county governor.
The county governor shall notify the Seimas or the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania of the activities and
decisions of the subdivisions of the state governing institutions
if they are not in compliance with the laws of the Republic of
Lithuania, Government decrees or violate the rights of the
individuals or organisations. If the subdivision of the state
governing institution or the higher state governing institution
do not repeal or change the disputable decision passed by them,
the final decision shall be passed by the Government.
Article 15. The County Council
The county council shall be formed under the county
governor.
The Council shall comprise ex officio the county governor
(Chairperson of the Council), deputy county governor, and mayors
of the municipalities located within the county.
The Council shall approve development trends of the county,
consider draft programmes of social and economic development and
environmental protection, draft documents of the general planning
of the territories, draft conditions for special planning of the
territories and draft revenue and expenditure plan of the county,
as well as other issues.
Chapter 5
ORGANISING OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COUNTY GOVERNOR
Article 16. The Administration of the County Governor
For the discharge of functions attributed to him, the county
governor shall form and run the Administration.
The Administration of the county governor shall be a legal
person, having the seal with the state emblem of the Republic of
Lithuania and the name of the county.
The organisational structure of the Administration of the
county governor and its regulations as well as the procedure for
the payment for work for its personnel shall be established by
the Government.
Article 17. The Powers of the County Governor in the
Sphere of Administration
The county governor shall:
1) organise the work of the Administration and be
responsible for its activities;
2) submit to the Government the draft revenue and
expenditure plan of the county;
3) appoint and dismiss from office heads of institutions
subordinate to him, as well as with the written consent of the
relevant Government institution, appoint and dismiss from office
chief executives of administration departments and subdivisions.
4) within the limits of the set wages fund, approve the
payroll of the Administration;
5) organise the meetings of the County Council and preside
over them;
6) exercise other powers vested in him by the laws of the
Republic of Lithuania, the Government and the Prime Minister.
In his absence, the duties of the county governor shall be
carried out by deputy county governor.
Article 18. Orders of the County Governor and Other
Legal Acts
The county governor shall issue orders and other legal acts
and oversee their enforcement.
The orders and other legal acts of the county governor that
are within the scope of his competence shall be binding upon all
legal and natural persons.
The Government shall have the right to repeal the orders and
legal acts of the county governor if they are not in conformity
with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the laws,
other legal acts passed by the Seimas of the Republic of
Lithuania, decrees of the President of the Republic and the
resolutions of the Government.
Article 19. Enforcement of the Law
The time limits and the procedure for the enforcement of
this Law shall be established by the Law on the Enforcement of
the Law on County Government.
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic
of Lithuania.
Algirdas Brazauskas
President of the Republic
Vilnius
15 December 1994
No. I-707