A Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), like a county or school district, is a subdivision of State government. A SWCD is brought into existence by a vote of the landowners within the boundaries of a district. It is administered by a board of five directors who are elected by their fellow landowners. After the passage of the Texas Soil Conservation Law and with the establishment of the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB), SWCDs began to be formed.

To assure geographical representation on the district's governing board, SWCDs are divided into five subdivisions. A district's governing body, a board of directors, is made up of agricultural landowners, one from each of five subdivisions. Each district director must live in the district, own land in the subdivision he or she represents, and be actively engaged in farming or ranching.

Elections are held once a year in a SWCD. District Directors are elected for a four-year term. Each year, on a day after September 30th and before October 16th, agricultural landowners in each of the districts over the state assemble in conventions and elect their representative on the District's Board of Directors. By rotating the elections in subdivisions, one or two directors' terms expire each year. Only agricultural landowners may vote or qualify as directors.