In April of that year the people elected John Lowry, Clark Robinson, and Gideon Russell as their first township trustees.

Russell is the home of ASM International, formerly known as the American Society for Metals, whose headquarters is marked by a gigantic geodesic dome, visited by Buckminster Fuller upon its completion.

Nearly all of the non-incorporated parts of the township are served in education by the West Geauga district.

(South Russell village and a small part of the rest is covered by the Chagrin Falls district.)

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1.