The town's police station closed in September last year due to urgent seismic work but has since been condemned.
"It's not repairable, so no strengthening work ended up being undertaken," a police spokeswoman said.
The closest police station is 12km away in Kaiapoi.
A final decision on demolishing the old Rangiora station has not been made.
A temporary public counter was established in January but was closed a couple of months ago.
"It was determined that it did not meet our security requirements. For operational reasons we won't be making further comment on that."
Work is ongoing to find a long-term solution, which would enable a front counter option to be available at the Rangiora station, the spokesperson said.
"Waimakariri policing services remain spread between the office-based environment in Rangiora and the fully operational station in Kaiapoi.
"We are continuing to explore more substantial options in Rangiora and will update as work progresses."
