Øyslebø (municipality)

Øyslebø is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The 157 km2 municipality existed from 1899 until its dissolution in 1964. The administrative centre was the village of Øyslebø where Øyslebø Church is located. Øyslebø municipality was located in part of the present-day municipality of Lindesnes in Agder county.

History
The municipality of Øyslebø was established on 1 January 1899 when the old municipality of Øyslebø og Laudal was split into two separate municipalities: Laudal and Øyslebø (population: 991). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Brunvatne area of Øyslebø (population: 44) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Søgne. Also on that date, the rest of Øyslebø was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Laudal and Bjelland as well as a portion of Finsland to form the new municipality of Marnardal. Prior to the merger, Øyslebø had a population of 1,068.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Øyslebø farm (Øyðslubœr) since the first Øyslebø Church was built there. The first element comes from the old name for the local river Øyðsla. The old river name was likely derived from the verb which means "to destroy". The last element is which means "farm" or "farmstead". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Øslebø or Øislebø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Øyslebø.

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Øyslebø was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.