Randesund (municipality)

Randesund is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The 43 km2 municipality existed from 1893 until its dissolution in 1965. The administrative centre was the village of Randesund where Randesund Church is located. The municipality was located in the southeastern part of the present-day municipality of Kristiansand, east of the Topdalsfjorden and south of the old municipality of Tveit. Since 1965, the area of Randesund has been the district of Randesund within the city of Kristiansand.

History
The municipality was established on 31 December 1893 when it was split off from the large municipality of Oddernes to form a separate municipality of its own. Initially, Randesund had a population of 1,133. 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 Randesund (population: 1,672) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Tveit (population: 2,802) and Oddernes (population: 18,668) and with the town of Kristiansand (population: 27,100) to form a new, much larger municipality of Kristiansand.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Randøen farm (Rǫnd) which was located on an island of the same name. The first element is derived from the word which means "edge" or "rim". The last element of the name is identical to the word which means strait or "sound". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Randøsund. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Randesund.

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 Randesund 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.