The Zebulon Volunteer Fire Department and the Zebulon Rural District Volunteer Fire Department maintain all equipment at a single location in Zebulon. Mutual support is provided to insure maximum fire protection. The town of Zebulon has had a Council-Manager form of government since 1975. The Zebulon Town Board consists of a Mayor and five commissioners. Elections are held at two-year intervals in November of odd years.
Elections are nonpartisan and all officials are elected to four-year terms.
The board sets town policies, enacts ordinances and appoints the Town Manager. The Town Manger administers the daily operations and programs of the municipal government through the department heads and other employees. Zebulon was started by two developers, Edgar Barbee and Falconer Arendell in 1906. Within one year from the first recorded deed, the land that was once thick with pine trees, became a bustling community. The North Carolina General Assembly incorporated the Town in 1907, shortly after the Raleigh and Pamlico Railroad came through.