Telemark County Municipality

Telemark County Municipality (Telemark fylkeskommune) was the regional governing administration of the old Telemark county in Norway. The county municipality was established in its current form on 1 January 1976 when the law was changed to allow elected county councils in Norway. The county municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020, when Telemark was merged with the neighboring Vestfold county, creating the new Vestfold og Telemark county which is led by the Vestfold og Telemark County Municipality.

The main responsibilities of the county municipality included the running of 29 upper secondary schools. It administered the county roadways, public transport, dental care, culture, and cultural heritage in the county. The administration was located in Skien. The county municipality had 1,544 employees, and in 2007, a revenue of NOK1,508 million.

County government
The Telemark county council (Fylkestinget) is made up of 35 representatives that were elected every four years. The council essentially acted as a Parliament or legislative body for the county and it met several times each year. The council is divided into standing committees and an executive board (fylkesutvalg) which meet considerably more often. Both the council and executive board are led by the County Mayor (fylkesordfører) who held the executive powers of the county. From 2017 until its dissolution in 2020, Gunn Marit Helgesen of the Conservative Party was the county mayor.

County council
The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Upper Secondary Schools
The county government ran these schools:
 * Bamble Upper Secondary School
 * Bø vidaregåande skule
 * Croftholmen Upper Secondary School
 * Hjalmar Johansen Upper Secondary School
 * Kragerø Upper Secondary School
 * Lunde vidaregåande skule
 * Notodden Upper Secondary School
 * Porsgrunn Upper Secondary School
 * Rjukan Upper Secondary School
 * Skien Upper Secondary School
 * Skogmo Upper Secondary School
 * Søve Upper Secondary School
 * Vest-Telemark Upper Secondary School