Helleland (municipality)

Helleland is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 148 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality is now located in the central part of the present-day municipality of Eigersund. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Helleland where the Helleland Church is located.

History
The parish of Helleland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). During the 1960s there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the municipality of Helleland (population: 851) was merged with the town of Egersund (population: 3,787), the municipality of Eigersund (population: 4,664), and the Gyadalen and Grøsfjell areas of the municipality of Heskestad (population: 114). The merger created a much larger municipality of Eigersund.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Helleland farm (Helliland) since the first Helleland Church was built there. The first element comes from the dative case of which means "cave" or "cavern". The last element is which means "land" or "district".

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.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Helleland:


 * 1838-1847: Peder Jakobsen Fed
 * 1848-1852: Tønnes Tønnesson Svalestad
 * 1853-1853: Anders Torgersen Sleveland
 * 1854-1859: Tønnes Tønnesson Svalestad
 * 1860-1863: Peder Jakobsen Lien
 * 1864-1865: Tønnes Tønnesson Svalestad
 * 1866-1870: Jonas Thomassen Birkeland
 * 1870-1877: Peder Jakobsen Lien
 * 1878-1879: Helge Ommundsen Slettebø
 * 1880-1881: Tønnes Jakobsen Gydal
 * 1882-1885: Peder Jakobsen Lien
 * 1886-1887: Jørgen Anton Meldal Pedersen Hogstad
 * 1888-1891: Ommund Helgesen Slettebø
 * 1892-1895: Peder Jakobsen Lien
 * 1896-1907: Jonas Nilsen Svalestad
 * 1908-1917: Theodor Torkellson Hovland (V)
 * 1918-1925: Retsius Hansson Polden
 * 1925-1925: Hans Rasmussen Kvassheim
 * 1926-1928: Anton Emil Jonasson Birkeland
 * 1929-1934: Nils Jonassen Svalestad
 * 1935-1941: Retsius Hansson Polden
 * 1942-1945: Tønnes Hetland (NS)
 * 1945-1945: Jon Birkeland
 * 1945-1965: John Munkejord

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Helleland was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: