The Marlborough District Council is a unitary authority established under the Local Government Act 2002. As a unitary authority it has the functions, duties and powers of both a territorial authority and a regional council. The council's main office is in Blenheim. It also has an office in Picton.
The Marlborough district covers 17,517sq km (including the 12 mile marine limit) and has a usually resident population of 42,558. It has a rateable land value of $6,286,409,000 and a rateable capital value of $11,676,549,200, with rates assessed on 24,421 properties.