The main responsibilities of the county municipality includes the running of 36 upper secondary schools, with 17,000 pupils.

The county municipality's most important tasks include secondary education, recreation (sports and outdoor life), and cultural heritage.

The county municipality has further responsibility for regional land-use planning, business development, power production, and environmental management.

Both the council and executive committee (with at least 5 members) are led by the county mayor (Norwegian: fylkesordfører).

[5] Here is a list of people who have held this position: Public transport in the county are operated on public service obligation contracts from the county municipality via the transportation authority company AtB AS (meaning A to B), and operations are performed by Boreal Buss, Nettbuss, Tide Buss and TrønderBilene (buses), Boreal Bane (tram), and Fosen Trafikklag and Kystekspressen (passenger ferries).