Provinces of 1820

In 1820, the delegations and the comarca of Rome were grouped into 11 provinces (province). The delegations of Camerino, Benevento, Bologna and Ferrara were their own provinces under those names. Rieti was its own province, called Sabina, and Urbino e Pesaro was synonymous with the province called Urbino. Rome was joined with Frosinone to form the province of Marittima e Campagna. Viterbo and Civitavecchia were joined to form the province of Patrimonio; Perugia and Spoleto the province of Umbria; Ancona, Ascoli, Fermo and Macerata the province of the Marche; and Forlì and Ravenna the province of Romagna.

Leo XII (1825) and Gregory XVI (1831–32)

Leo XII, successor of Pius VII, issued a motu proprio on 5 October 1825, which reduced the number of delegations from 17 to 13 by combining Fermo and Ascoli, Macerata and Camerino, Spoleto and Rieti and Viterbo and Civitavecchia.

In an edict issued on 5 July 1831, Leo XII's successor, Gregory XVI, reversed his reform and also created a new delegation based on Orvieto out of the territory of the delegation of Viterbo. He raised the number of delegations to 19 the following year with his motu proprio "Luminose prove" of 1 February 1832. The new delegation, based on Velletri and carved out of that of Frosinone, was granted to the Dean of the College of Cardinals and thus constituted a new legation. Although boundaries would change, subsequent reforms would retain a legate at Velletri.

New legations of Pius IX

In 1848, Pius IX, facing revolution in Rome, promulgated a new constitution for the Papal State. It was not enough to quell the revolution and he fled to take refuge in the Kingdom of Naples. In 1849, a Roman Republic was declared. It was crushed by a French army, and Pius returned to Rome on 12 April 1850.

On 22 November 1850, Pius IX issued an edict grouping the 19 delegations into four new legations and a district (circondario, circle or circumscription) around Rome. Each of the new higher-level legations was entrusted to a cardinal.

1816–47

Pius VII completely reformed the municipal administration. All municipal laws from before or during the Revolution were repealed and municipal government was made uniform across the Papal State.

Local governments were divided into those of the first class ("di primo ordine"), which were the larger cities, and those of the second ("di secondo"), which were all other comuni (municipalities). Each municipality was governed by a mayor called a governor (governatore) appointed by the pope through the secretary of state. Governors of the first class were appointed by papal brief, while those of the second class merely by letters patent. Governors were not necessarily ecclesiastics, and they had to be neither native to nor resident in their municipalities. They were under the authority of the apostolic delegates. The governors held judicial authority in cases involving less than 100 scudi, in property disputes and in some other cases. They were charged with policing fairs and festivals.

Pius VII introduced into each comune a council (consiglio) with deliberative functions and a magistracy (magistratura) with executive functions. The functions of the magistracy had previously belonged to the higher authorities. The original members of the councils were selected by the delegates, but subsequently new councilors were co-opted. The magistracy was composed of elders (anziani) drawn from the council under the leadership of a gonfaloniere (literally, standard-bearer), who was not required to be a councilor. The gonfalonieri were chosen by the secretary of state, while the elders were chosen by the delegate from a list of names submitted by the council.

The small rural villages of the comuni each had their own syndic (sindaco) or procurator (procuratore) subject to the communal gonfaloniere.

1847–70

On 1 October 1847, Pius IX issued the motu proprio "Sull'organizzazione del Consiglio e Senato di Roma e le sue attribuzioni",^{[lower-alpha 2]} which extended to Rome the laws applicable in the other municipalities. Rome thus received a council of 100 men: 96 laymen chosen through the census to represent various professions and 4 clergy chosen by the Cardinal Vicar. The Senator^{[lower-alpha 3]} was made gonfaloniere (mayor) and presided over an executive body (the magistracy) composed of eight conservators (conservatori).

The Roman revolution of 1848 interrupted the reforming process that had begun with Rome the previous year, but in an edict of 24 November 1850, in implementation of Pius IX's motu prioprio of 12 September 1849, Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli defined the new competences of the council and magistracy. The councils would now:

• nominate their own employees and those on their payroll
• run the school system
• maintain the roads and other communal infrastructure (bridges, aqueducts, fountains, etc.)
• operate the public utilities
• approve the annual tabella (budget)

The magistracy would now:

• execute the decisions of the council
• sign contracts on behalf of the council
• prepare the annual budget and accounting statements

The municipalities were divided into five classes based on population, which determined how many councilors they would get:

• > 20,000 inhabitants → first class → 36 councilors
• > 10,000 inhabitants → second class → 30 councilors
• > 5,000 inhabitants → third class → 24 councilors
• > 1,000 inhabitants → fourth class → 16 councilors
• < 1,000 inhabitants → fifth class → 10 councilors

The councilors were to be selected by the delegate and approved by the Cardinal Prefect of the Sacra Consulta. Rome's council was reduced from 100 to 48.