Responsibilities include the direction of county agencies, preparation of budgets to the assembly of delegates and the Advisory Board on County Expenditures, care of county property, supervision of revenue collection and disbursement of funds, reporting on administrative and financial conditions of the county and appointment of the county administrator. The commission meets Wednesday morning in its office, located in the Barnstable Superior Courthouse. All legislative powers of the county are vested solely in Assembly of Delegates, the 15-member legislative branch. The acts of the assembly are promulgated through the adoption of ordinances, including approval of the annual county budget. Delegates are elected on a non-partisan basis from each town to two year terms, ending in even years.
Delegates receive no compensation.
The Barnstable delegate has the greatest single vote on the entire assembly, weighing in with 22 percent of every vote cast. The vote of Yarmouth's delegate counts 11.35 percent of each vote. The percentages are based on federal census figures and will next change after the 2000 Census. There are 19 members on the commission representing each of the member towns, one governor's appointee, and three appointed by the county commissioners to include one county commissioner, one Native American and one minority. The commission continues to provide technical assistance for the implementation of the Barnstable's recently certified Local Comprehensive Plan.