The Department is the largest territorial division. It comprises the Arrondissements.

The Department has legal personality and is autonomous.

Each Department is administered by a Council of three (3) members elected for four (4) years by the Departmental Assembly.

Members of the Departmental Council are not necessarily drawn from the Assembly, but they must:

a. Be Haitians and at least twenty-five (25) years of age;

b. Have resided in the Department three (3) years before the elections and undertake to remain there during their term;

c. Enjoy civil and political rights and have newer been sentenced to death, personal restraint, or penal servitude or the loss of civil rights.

The departmental Council is assisted in its work by a Departmental Assembly made up of:

The following may attend Assembly meetings in an advisory capacity:

a. Deputies and Senators of the Department;

b. One (1) representative of each socie-professional association or union;

c. The Departmental Delegate;

d. The Director of Public Services of the Department.

The Departmental Council draws up the Department's development plan in cooperation with the Central Government.

The organization and operations of the Departmental Council and the Departmental Assembly are regulated by law.

The Departmental Council manages its financial resources for the exclusive benefit of the Department and renders its accounts to the Departmental Assembly, which in turn reports to the Central Government.

The Departmental Council may be dissolved in the event of embezzlement or maladministration legally determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.

If it is dissolved, the Central Government appoints a Provisional Commission and calls upon the Permanent Electoral Council to elect a new Council for the remainder of the term within sixty (60) days of the dissolution.