The heads of administrative departments of local and regional units have a leading role in the functioning of the administrative system of the territorial unit. In the Republic of Croatia, heads are appointed by the municipal head, mayor, or prefect on the basis of a public tender. They have all kinds of powers, whether it was about deciding on the labor legal status of the employees of the administrative department they manage, or about administrative actions when passing administrative acts that directly decide on the rights, obligations and legal interests of citizens. Local leaders are responsible for the implementation of pre-election programs of elected political officials, and are the link between the political system and the administration in a kind of transition chain. Countries in the region have regulated the status of heads in a similar way, with the exception of the Republic of Serbia, where heads of municipal administration are elected by the municipal council for a term of five years. The official system that governs the issue of local officials and employees in the Republic of Croatia is harmonized with European regulations as well as the European Charter on Local Self-Government, the first international legal document that regulates the principles and other important issues for local units.