The results of Russia’s foreign policy activities on its southern borders enabled the central authorities to intensify the process of modeling the administrative system in the region during the first quarter of the 19th century. The subject of the proposed research is the institute of pristavstvo in the system of administration of the peripheries of the Russian Empire. This institute was established to introduce the peripheral, multi-ethnic and multi-confessional territories of the state into the all-Russian socio-economic and political-legal space. The pristavstvo functioned as a transitional form of imperial administration in the foreign environment. Its initial design was to ensure that the central authorities filled the information vacuum, overcoming the language barrier and creating common rules of interaction in imperial communications. Subsequently, the institution was utilized to communicate the objectives of imperial policy in the region, including the endeavor to overcome the economic isolation of peripheral societies. In this multi-component process, the personality of the imperial offi cial, first and foremost the chief pristav, played an instrumental role. The article utilizes a comprehensive analysis of legislative acts and sources from both central and regional archives to meticulously reconstruct the chronological sequence of events, as well as the changes in individuals who held the post of chief pristav. Initially, the issuance of chief pristavs was conducted through of nominal imperial decrees, and they were attached to the department of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs. Subsequently, however, they came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. These officials were subordinate to the chief administrator in the Caucasus, and subsequently to the civil governor. Representatives of diff erent class and even ethnic groups were mostly in military service in the North Caucasus. The author concludes that chief pristavs played an intermediary role, dictated not only by the nature of their position, but also by the conditions in which they operated. The objective of their service was to establish a reliable communication conduit that would be consistent with Russia’s policy towards the foreign outskirts, whilst not compromising the prerogatives of the local elite.