District offices were reintroduced on 1 January (thirty years after the abolition of the system of administrative districts), within a new organisational structure and with new goals. There are 175 district offices outside Budapest, and twenty-three in the capital. These will carry out administrative tasks below county level.

The offices will primarily take over the following tasks from local councils: clerical and registration duties; child protection and guardianship matters; and some social, environmental and conservation management issues. Within district offices there are specialist administrative units dealing with guardianship matters, veterinary and food-related supervision, district land offices and district labour offices. Office directors were sworn in at a ceremony in Budapest on 17 December.

The appointees include eleven former mayors, who are therefore obliged to resign from their mayoral posts within fifteen days. Local election offices will then announce by-elections. Seven office directors are also Members of Parliament, but they can retain their mandates until the next parliamentary elections. Initially three of the 198 district offices have only acting directors. Fifty-two per cent of directors are women, nearly two-thirds are lawyers, and the average time they have spent so far in public administration is twelve years. More than sixty have already worked as notaries.

The Government decided on formation of administrative districts in September 2011. The Ministry of Public Administration and Justice has called the initiative an important milestone in a comprehensive transformation of public administration serving the public good and promoting the ideal of ‘the good state’. It has been stated that the goal is to create modern administrative districts that help reduce costs to society, and that operate more effectively and with more attention to the needs of the public.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)