Administration

Between 1790 and 1797 Castres was the prefecture of Tarn.

Since 2001, the mayor of Castres has been Pascal Bugis (right, member of UMP), who defeated the then socialist mayor in the 2001 election after a campaign focused on the bad records of the socialist mayor on fighting crime, and the high level of insecurity in the town.

Castres has teamed up with the nearby town of Mazamet (22 km/13 miles southeast of Castres) and the independent suburbs and villages in between to create the Greater Castres-Mazamet Council (Communauté d'agglomération de Castres-Mazamet), which was established in January 2000 (succeeding a previous district which had been created in 1993 with fewer powers than the current council). The Greater Castres-Mazamet Council groups 16 independent communes (including Castres and Mazamet), with a total population of 79,988 inhabitants (as of 1999 census), 54% of these living in the commune of Castres proper, 13% in the commune of Mazamet, and the rest in the communes in between.

The Greater Castres-Mazamet Council was created in order to better coordinate transport, infrastructure, housing, and economic policies between the communes of the area. The current president of the Greater Castres-Mazamet Council is Jacques Limouzy (Gaullist, member of UMP), former mayor of Castres before 1995, who became president in 2001.