Jelsa (municipality)

Jelsa is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 130 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until 1965. It encompassed area that surrounds the Sandsfjorden in the present-day municipalities of Suldal, Hjelmeland, and Stavanger. The administrative centre was the village of Jelsa, where Jelsa Church is located.

History
The parish of Jælse was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1859, the municipality was split, with the northern district becoming the municipality of Sand. The split left Jelsa with a population of 2,606. On 1 January 1914, the eastern district was split off as the new municipality of Erfjord. This left Jelsa with 1,539 residents.

On 1 January 1965 the municipality of Jelsa was dissolved due to recommendations by the Schei Committee. The majority of Jelsa (population: 928) was merged with the municipalities of Erfjord, Sand, and Suldal to form a new, enlarged Suldal Municipality. At the same time, the Buergårdene area (population: 8) on the island of Ombo was moved to Hjelmeland Municipality, and the rest of the island of Ombo that belonged to Jelsa (population: 89) was moved to Finnøy Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Jelsa farm (Jalsa) since the first Jelsa Church was built there. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it is probably the old name for the Jelsafjorden. It is possible that the name comes from the word which means "noise". Another possibility is that it comes from the Shetland word which means "scream" or "screech" (particularly referring to the noise a seagull makes). Historically, the name was spelled Jælse.

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 Jelsa was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: