The Central Otago District Council uses Plans, Reports, Bylaws and Policies to define and record the direction of local government in the district.

Plans - The Long Term Council Community plan (LTCCP) and Annual Plan serve the function of setting goals for the next ten years  and one year respectively, and show what the cost of providing the services is.

Reports - The Annual Report is a measure of how the Council actually performed in a financial year (which ends 30th June)

Bylaws - Bylaws exist to set broad guidelines for the various statutory functions of the council.

Policies - Policies differ from Bylaws in that they only address a specific issue. Council is currently in the process of updating and adding new policies. These will be updated on the site once approved.