diff --git a/dev/release/README.md b/dev/release/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7a515732df652
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@@ -0,0 +1,312 @@
+<!---
+  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+  or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+  distributed with this work for additional information
+  regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+  to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+  "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+  with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+  software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+  "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+  KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+  specific language governing permissions and limitations
+  under the License.
+-->
+
+# Release Process
+
+## Sub-projects
+
+The Datafusion repo contains 3 different releasable sub-projects: Datafusion, Ballista and Datafusion python binding.
+
+We use Datafusion release to drive the release for the other sub-projects. As a
+result, Datafusion version bump is required for every release while version
+bumps for the Python binding and Ballista are optional. In other words, we can
+release a new version of Datafusion without releasing a new version of the
+Python binding or Ballista. On the other hand, releasing a new version of the
+Python binding or Ballista always requires a new Datafusion version release.
+
+## Branching
+
+Datafusion currently only releases from the `master` branch. Given the project
+is still in early development state, we are not maintaining an active stable
+release backport branch.
+
+## Prerequisite
+
+- Have upstream git repo `git@github.com:apache/arrow-datafusion.git` add as git remote `apache`.
+- Created a peronal access token in Github for changelog automation script.
+  - Github PAT should be created with `repo` access
+- Make sure your signing key is added to the following files in SVN:
+  - https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/arrow/KEYS
+  - https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/arrow/KEYS
+
+## Process Overview
+
+As part of the Apache governance model, official releases consist of signed
+source tarballs approved by the PMC.
+
+We then use the code in the approved source tarball to release to crates.io and
+PyPI.
+
+### Change Log
+
+We maintain `CHANGELOG.md` for each sub project so our users know what has been
+changed between releases.
+
+The CHANGELOG is managed automatically using
+[update_change_log.sh](https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/blob/master/dev/release/update_change_log.sh)
+
+This script creates a changelog using github PRs and issues based on the labels
+associated with them.
+
+## Prepare release comimts and PR
+
+Prepare a PR to update `CHANGELOG.md` and versions to reflect the planned
+release.
+
+See [#801](https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/pull/801) for an example.
+
+Here are the commands that could be used to prepare the `5.1.0` release:
+
+### Update Version
+
+Checkout the master commit to be released
+
+```
+git fetch apache
+git checkout apache/master
+```
+
+Update datafusion version in `datafusion/Cargo.toml` to `5.1.0`.
+
+If there is a ballista release, update versions in ballista Cargo.tomls, run
+
+```
+./dev/update_ballista_versions.py 0.5.0
+```
+
+If there is a datafusion python binding release, update versions in
+`./python/Cargo.toml`.
+
+Lastly commit the version change:
+
+```
+git commit -a -m 'Update version'
+```
+
+### Update CHANGELOG.md
+
+Create local release rc tags:
+
+```
+git tag -f 5.1.0-rc-local
+# if there is ballista release
+git tag -f ballista-0.5.0-rc-local
+# if there is python binding release
+git tag -f python-0.3.0-rc-local
+```
+
+Manully edit the previous release version tag in
+`dev/release/update_change_log-{ballista,datafusion,python}.sh`. Commits
+between the previous verstion tag and the new rc tag will be used to
+populate the changelog content.
+
+```bash
+# create the changelog
+CHANGELOG_GITHUB_TOKEN=<TOKEN> ./dev/release/update_change_log-all.sh
+# review change log / edit issues and labels if needed, rerun until you are happy with the result
+git commit -a -m 'Create changelog for release'
+```
+
+Note that when reviewing the change log, rather than editing the
+`CHANGELOG.md`, it is preferred to update the issues and their labels.
+
+You can add `invalid` or `development-process` label to exclude items from
+release notes. Add `datafusion`, `ballista` and `python` labels to group items
+into each sub-project's change log.
+
+Send a PR to get these changes merged into `master` branch. If new commits that
+could change the change log content landed in the `master` branch before you
+could merge the PR, you need to rerun the changelog update script to regenerate
+the changelog and update the PR accordingly.
+
+## Prepare release candidate tarball
+
+After the PR gets merged, you are ready to create a releaes tarball from the
+merged commit.
+
+(Note you need to be a committer to run these scripts as they upload to the apache svn distribution servers)
+
+### Pick an Release Candidate (RC) number
+
+Pick numbers in sequential order, with `0` for `rc0`, `1` for `rc1`, etc.
+
+### Create git tag for the release:
+
+While the official release artifact is a signed tarball, we also tag the commit it was created for convenience and code archaeology.
+
+Using a string such as `5.1.0` as the `<version>`, create and push the tag thusly:
+
+```shell
+git fetch apache
+git tag <version>-<rc> apache/master
+# push tag to Github remote
+git push apache <version>
+```
+
+### Create, sign, and upload tarball
+
+Run `create-tarball.sh` with the `<version>` tag and `<rc>` and you found in previous steps:
+
+```shell
+./dev/release/create-tarball.sh 5.1.0 0
+```
+
+The `create-tarball.sh` script
+
+1. creates and uploads a release candidate tarball to the [arrow
+   dev](https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/arrow) location on the
+   apache distribution svn server
+
+2. provide you an email template to
+   send to dev@arrow.apache.org for release voting.
+
+### Vote on Release Candidate tarball
+
+Send the email output from the script to dev@arrow.apache.org. The email should look like
+
+```
+To: dev@arrow.apache.org
+Subject: [VOTE][Datafusion] Release Apache Arrow Datafusion 5.1.0 RC0
+
+Hi,
+
+I would like to propose a release of Apache Arrow Datafusion Implementation,
+version 5.1.0.
+
+This release candidate is based on commit: a5dd428f57e62db20a945e8b1895de91405958c4 [1]
+The proposed release tarball and signatures are hosted at [2].
+The changelog is located at [3].
+
+Please download, verify checksums and signatures, run the unit tests,
+and vote on the release.
+
+The vote will be open for at least 72 hours.
+
+[ ] +1 Release this as Apache Arrow Datafusion 5.1.0
+[ ] +0
+[ ] -1 Do not release this as Apache Arrow Datafusion 5.1.0 because...
+
+[1]: https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/tree/a5dd428f57e62db20a945e8b1895de91405958c4
+[2]: https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/arrow/apache-arrow-datafusion-5.1.0
+[3]: https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/blob/a5dd428f57e62db20a945e8b1895de91405958c4/CHANGELOG.md
+```
+
+For the release to become "official" it needs at least three PMC members to vote +1 on it.
+
+### Verifying Release Candidates
+
+The `dev/release/verify-release-candidate.sh` is a script in this repository that can assist in the verification process. Run it like:
+
+```
+./dev/release/verify-release-candidate.sh 5.1.0 0
+```
+
+#### If the release is not approved
+
+If the release is not approved, fix whatever the problem is, merge changelog
+changes into master if there is any and try again with the next RC number.
+
+## Finalize the release
+
+### After the release is approved
+
+Move tarball to the release location in SVN, e.g.
+https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/arrow/arrow-datafusion-5.1.0/, using
+the `release-tarball.sh` script:
+
+```shell
+./dev/release/release-tarball.sh 5.1.0 0
+```
+
+Congratulations! The release is now offical!
+
+### Create release git tags
+
+Tag the same release candidate commit with the final release tag
+
+```
+git co apache/5.1.0-RC0
+git tag 5.1.0
+git push 5.1.0
+```
+
+If there is a ballista release, also push the ballista tag
+
+```
+git tag ballista-0.5.0
+git push ballista-0.5.0
+```
+
+If there is a datafusion python binding release, also push the python tag
+
+```
+git tag python-0.3.0
+git push python-0.3.0
+```
+
+### Publish on Crates.io
+
+Only approved releases of the tarball should be published to
+crates.io, in order to conform to Apache Software Foundation
+governance standards.
+
+An Arrow committer can publish this crate after an official project release has
+been made to crates.io using the following instructions.
+
+Follow [these
+instructions](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/publishing.html) to
+create an account and login to crates.io before asking to be added as an owner
+of the following crates:
+
+- [datafusion](https://crates.io/crates/datafusion)
+- [ballista](https://crates.io/crates/ballista)
+- [ballista-core](https://crates.io/crates/ballista-core)
+- [ballista-executor](https://crates.io/crates/ballista-executor)
+- [ballista-scheduler](https://crates.io/crates/ballista-scheduler)
+
+Download and unpack the official release tarball
+
+Verify that the Cargo.toml in the tarball contains the correct version
+(e.g. `version = "5.1.0"`) and then publish the crate with the
+following commands
+
+```shell
+(cd datafusion && cargo publish)
+```
+
+If there is a ballista release, run
+
+```shell
+(cd ballista/rust/client && cargo publish)
+(cd ballista/rust/core && cargo publish)
+(cd ballista/rust/executor && cargo publish)
+(cd ballista/rust/scheduler && cargo publish)
+```
+
+### Publish on PyPI
+
+TODO
+
+### Call the vote
+
+Call the vote on the Arrow dev list by replying to the RC voting thread. The
+reply should have a new subject constructed by adding `[RESULT]` prefix to the
+old subject line.
+
+TODO: add example mail
diff --git a/dev/release/create-tarball.sh b/dev/release/create-tarball.sh
index ffcb430b5c7c1..94318d0777700 100755
--- a/dev/release/create-tarball.sh
+++ b/dev/release/create-tarball.sh
@@ -86,6 +86,11 @@ The changelog is located at [3].
 Please download, verify checksums and signatures, run the unit tests, and vote
 on the release. The vote will be open for at least 72 hours.
 
+Only votes from PMC members are binding, but all members of the community are
+encouraged to test the release and vote with "(non-binding)".
+
+The standard verification procedure is documented at https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/blob/master/dev/release/README.md#verifying-release-candidates.
+
 [ ] +1 Release this as Apache Arrow Datafusion ${version}
 [ ] +0
 [ ] -1 Do not release this as Apache Arrow Datafusion ${version} because...
diff --git a/dev/release/update_change_log-ballista.sh b/dev/release/update_change_log-ballista.sh
index 68193156622a2..05c5f6fe69849 100755
--- a/dev/release/update_change_log-ballista.sh
+++ b/dev/release/update_change_log-ballista.sh
@@ -25,4 +25,4 @@ SOURCE_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 SOURCE_TOP_DIR="$(cd "${SOURCE_DIR}/../../" && pwd)"
 
 CURRENT_VER=$(grep version "${SOURCE_TOP_DIR}/ballista/rust/client/Cargo.toml" | head -n 1 | awk '{print $3}' | tr -d '"')
-${SOURCE_DIR}/update_change_log.sh ballista 4.0.0 "ballista-${CURRENT_VER}"
+${SOURCE_DIR}/update_change_log.sh ballista 4.0.0 "ballista-${CURRENT_VER}-rc-local"
diff --git a/dev/release/update_change_log-datafusion.sh b/dev/release/update_change_log-datafusion.sh
index f0f455ad1c9b5..1570c91252756 100755
--- a/dev/release/update_change_log-datafusion.sh
+++ b/dev/release/update_change_log-datafusion.sh
@@ -25,4 +25,4 @@ SOURCE_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 SOURCE_TOP_DIR="$(cd "${SOURCE_DIR}/../../" && pwd)"
 
 CURRENT_VER=$(grep version "${SOURCE_TOP_DIR}/datafusion/Cargo.toml" | head -n 1 | awk '{print $3}' | tr -d '"')
-${SOURCE_DIR}/update_change_log.sh datafusion 4.0.0 "${CURRENT_VER}"
+${SOURCE_DIR}/update_change_log.sh datafusion 4.0.0 "${CURRENT_VER}-rc-local"
diff --git a/dev/release/update_change_log-python.sh b/dev/release/update_change_log-python.sh
index a48a5b657c5f3..6b864f9be1b2e 100755
--- a/dev/release/update_change_log-python.sh
+++ b/dev/release/update_change_log-python.sh
@@ -25,4 +25,4 @@ SOURCE_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 SOURCE_TOP_DIR="$(cd "${SOURCE_DIR}/../../" && pwd)"
 
 CURRENT_VER=$(grep version "${SOURCE_TOP_DIR}/python/Cargo.toml" | head -n 1 | awk '{print $3}' | tr -d '"')
-${SOURCE_DIR}/update_change_log.sh python 4.0.0 "python-${CURRENT_VER}"
+${SOURCE_DIR}/update_change_log.sh python 4.0.0 "python-${CURRENT_VER}-rc-local"