The administration of Uttara Kannada district falls under the overview of the Deputy Commissioner. The District is the principal administrative unit below the state level. It is a unit of administration covering most of the departments of Government. The Deputy Commissioner, being the head of the district administration, is perhaps the only officer who exercises powers under the largest number of laws both state and central. In his capacity as the chief head of administration of a district, the Deputy Commissioner has a number of functions to perform. A broad account of these functions is given below.

Law and Order and Magisterial Matters: The first group of functions relates to public safety and tranquillity. Maintenance of Law and order is the joint responsibility of the Superintendent of Police, who heads the Police force in the district, and the District Magistrate. The Deputy Commissioner of the District is also the District Magistrate. Though there is a separate department for the administration of jails, the district Magistrate exercises general supervision over the Jails in his district.

Land Revenue: The second group of functions relates to revenue administration. While the most important component of this group is land administration including maintenance of land records, it also includes the assessment and collection of land revenue and also collection of the other public dues which are collected as arrears of land revenue. The Deputy Commissioner is a designated Revenue officer in various laws governing the land to deal with disputes arising out of land records and management of public lands and properties. The other revenue officers, namely, the Assistant Commissioners, the Tahsildars and the Deputy Tahsildars also perform functions of dealing with land disputes under the overall supervision and control of the Deputy Commissioner.

Development Activities: These include Public Health, Education, Social Welfare, welfare of Backward Classes and communities. Each of these functions is looked after by separate department, headed by a specialist officer in the district. The various special economic programmes like Samgra Grameena Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), Swarnajayanthi Grama Swarozgar Yojana, etc. and the poor people`s housing scheme Indira Awas Yojana, Pradanamantri Grameena Awas Yojana, Ashraya Housing Scheme, Dr. Ambedkar Housing, Navagram Housing are implemented by the Zilla Panchayat, Which is headed by Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Panchayat. The Deputy Commissioner does not get a direct role in these schemes. However, since these programmes call for an integrated effort by various field departments at the district level, Public Works Department and Minor Irrigation, Forest etc., the role of D.C. in co-coordinating and guiding their activities is of prime importance for successful implementation of these programmes. Social Security measures like Old age Pension, Widows Pension, Maternity allowance to expectant mothers and stipends to physically Handicapped persons, Workmen`s compensations matters, rehabilitation of displaced persons under various projects Aids for Religious (Muzrai Schemes) and charitable Institutions and Endowments are also carried out.

Regulatory Functions: These include
(i) control, regulation and distribution of Food and Civil supplies and essential commodities.
(ii) Excise and Prohibition matters.
(iii) All matters relating to Stamps and Registration, Societies registration Act, 1960, Registration of firms under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932.
(iv) Matters relating to urban land (ceiling and regulation), vacant lands in urban areas (prohibition of alienation Act, 1975.
(v) Land Improvement Loans Act, 1963, Agriculturists Loans Act, 1963, Non-agricultural Loans Act, 1958.

Elections and Citizenship Matters: This relates to holding of elections of Parliament, State Legislature and Local Bodies. The Deputy Commissioner is responsible for the proper observance of process of elections from the registration of voters to the declaration of results of elections.

Municipal Administration Matters: The DC is generally responsible for the supervision and proper functioning of the urban local bodies. The implementation of various developmental and anti-poverty measures for the urban poor is monitored by the Deputy Commissioner. The most important of these programmes are the Swarnajayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), Urban Ashraya (Housing), Eleventh Finance Commission development grants and the Integrated Small and Medium Towns Development (IDSMT) Programmes.

Emergency Relief: In situations like floods, famines, accidental fires, earthquakes and other natural calamities, the entire district administration is geared to meet the threat and the DC assumes charge to co-ordinate the activities of the various departments and takes proper steps to alleviate sufferings of the people.

Land Acquisition matters and Land Reforms: Acquisition of land for public purposes, like, construction of development projects, industries etc. are carried out by the Land Acquisition Officers under the control of the Deputy Commissioner.

Residuary Functions: There are a number of executive functions of Government which have not been precisely defined and there is no separate representative of the Government to carry out such duties in the district. It is the DC, in his capacity as the chief representative of Government in the district, who has to deal with all residuary matters. This group of activities includes miscellaneous functions like collections under the small savings schemes, contributions to public loans, implementation of family planning programme etc.

Public Grievances: The DC is the District Public Grievances officer, in consequence of which he maintains the overall responsibility to ensure proper functioning of all departments in the district.

Apart from the above-mentioned functions, the Deputy Commissioner also has to see to a number of other matters. These include Census, Regional Transport Authority, visits of V.I.P.`s, treasuries, budget estimates and matters relating to forestry.

Zilla Panchayat is a body corporate with a legal status, which has been instituted to help facilitate administration in the rural areas. It was constituted under the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act in the year 1993. The Zilla Panchayat is entrusted with execution of development schemes, providing civic functions in rural areas and looking after the duties of the government delegated in respect of certain department as per the schedule.