A county governor is the leader of a county

Counties of Lithuania

The territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties , all named after their capitals. The counties are divided into 60 municipalities : 9 city municipalities, 43 district municipalities and 8 municipalities...

, the first-level administrative unit of Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. County governors are chosen by the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Lithuania

The Prime Minister of Lithuania is the head of the executive arm of Lithuania's government, and is chosen by the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas. The modern office of Prime Minister was established in 1990, although the official title was "Chairperson of the Council of Ministers" until 25...

 and confirmed by the central government rather than elected by the people. In general, county governors are chosen from the members of those political parties that win the elections to the Seimas

Seimas

The Seimas is the unicameral Lithuanian parliament. It has 141 members that are elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in individual constituencies , and the other half are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation...

. Usually, the county governor seats of the main counties, such as Vilnius County

Vilnius County

Vilnius County is the largest of the 10 counties of Lithuania, located in the east of the country around the city Vilnius. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Vilnius County remains as the territorial and statistical unit.-History:Until the Partitions of...

, are more valued by the political elite than those of the smaller ones.

County governors have three main goals, as outlined in the Law of County Governing:

1. to implement national policy regarding regional development, social welfare, education, culture, health care, territorial planning, heritage protection, land use and protection, ecology and other matters; to implement national and interregional programmes.
2. to coordinate activities of structural divisions of governmental institutions that are present in the county; to coordinate the activities of municipalities
   Municipalities of Lithuania
   Lithuania is a country, situated in Northern Europe. It is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Council of Europe and NATO. As of 2010, it had a population of approximately 3.3 million, and an area of . In the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and...
   
   ; to implement regional programmes.
3. to prepare plans for regional development.

To accomplish their goals and tasks, county governors form and lead their administration. A county governor's administration is the legal entity that represents the county in all matters. However, counties do not have that much power vested in them. Municipalities play far more important role in the political life. Municipality councils are elected in direct election

Direct election

Direct election is a term describing a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the person, persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen depends upon the...

every four years.