The county municipality was established in its current form on 1 January 1976 when the law was changed to allow elected county councils in Norway.

The main responsibilities of the county municipality included the running of 12 upper secondary schools, with 7,000 pupils.

The Nord-Trøndelag county council (Norwegian: Fylkestinget) was made up of 35 representatives that were elected every four years.

The council essentially acted as a Parliament or legislative body for the county and it met several times each year.

The last county mayor of Nord-Trøndelag, was Gunnar Viken (Conservative Party) while his deputy is Johannes Sandstad (Christian Democratic Party).