Vats (municipality)

Vats is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. Located in the traditional district of Haugaland, the municipality existed from 1891 until 1965. The 124 km2 municipality encompassed the land to the east and west surrounding the Vatsfjorden and the lake Vatsvatnet. Vats is typically divided into two parts Øvre Vats (around the lake in the north) and Nedre Vats (around the fjord in the south).

History
The municipality of Vats was established on 1 January 1891 when it was split off from the municipality of Skjold. Initially, Vats had 1,095 residents. On 1 January 1965, the municipality was dissolved due to recommendations of the Schei Committee. The majority of Vats (population: 1,128) was merged with parts of Imsland, Skjold, and Vikedal, as well as all of Sandeid to form the new municipality of Vindafjord. On the same day, the Breidal and Stølsvik farms on the south side of the Yrkefjorden (population: 16) became a part of Tysvær municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vatne farm (Vatn) since the first Vats Church was built there. The name comes from the dative case of the word which means "water", likely referring to the lake know known as Vatsvatnet.

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 Vats was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: