The main responsibilities of the county municipality includes the running of 29 upper secondary schools.

[1] The Telemark county council (Norwegian: Fylkestinget) is 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 council is divided into standing committees and an executive board (fylkesutvalg) which meet considerably more often.

From 2017 until its dissolution in 2020, Gunn Marit Helgesen of the Conservative Party was the county mayor.