Its 48 members are elected every four years in 14 districts by single non-transferable vote (SNTV).

The assembly is responsible for enacting and amending prefectural ordinances, approving the budget and voting on important administrative appointments made by the governor including the vice-governors.

After the Battle of Okinawa, the United States military governed the prefecture.

The civilian branch of the military government was the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands; a Legislature of the Government of the Ryukyu Islands (立法院) was created in 1952.

As of 2017, the assembly was composed as follows:[2] Most electoral districts in Okinawa correspond to current cities or former counties (the counties, abolished as administrative unit in 1921, had initially by definition served as electoral districts for prefectural assemblies in the Empire).