Joel Frost was a member of the Westchester County Board of Supervisors in 1803.
When Putnam County was established in 1812, Frost was appointed Surrogate and returned to his birthplace which was the county seat.
He was a delegate from Putnam County to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821.
Frost was elected as a Crawford Democratic-Republican to the 18th United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1825.
He did not run for reelection, and relocated to Schenectady, where he was residing when he died on September 11, 1827.