Greipstad

Greipstad is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The 104 km2 municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 1964 when it became part of Songdalen municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Nodeland where the Greipstad Church is located. The municipality is located in the northern part of the present-day municipality of Kristiansand in Agder county.

History
The municipality of Greipstad was established on 1 July 1913 when it was separated from the municipality of Søgne to form a municipality of its own. Initially, the municipality had a population of 822 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Greipstad (population: 2,061) was dissolved and it was merged with most of the neighboring municipality of Finsland, excluding the area around Kleveland bru, (population: 797) and with the Eikeland area of Øvrebø municipality (population: 39) to form the new municipality of Songdalen.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Greipstad farm (Greipsstaðir) since the first Greipstad Church was built there. The first element is the old male name Greipr. The last element is the plural form of which means "place" or "abode".

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 Greipstad 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.