The Council is a voluntary association of cities and counties in eleven-county region centered around the Corpus Christi metropolitan area. It is one of twenty-four COGs in Texas, all legally defined as political subdivisions of the state. They are governmental agencies with legal responsibility for multi-jurisdictional planning in program areas such as emergency communication systems, criminal justice, solid waste management, environmental protection, and homeland security planning in addition to being the Area Agency on Aging, which has the responsibility for providing nutrition and social services for the elderly.