The county governor of Møre og Romsdal county in Norway represents the central government administration in the county. The office of county governor is a government agency of the Kingdom of Norway; the title was Norwegian: Amtmann (before 1919), then Norwegian: Fylkesmann (from 1919 to 2020), and then Norwegian: Statsforvaltaren (since 2021).[1]
Romsdalens amt (with its current borders) was established in 1671, but after just four years (in 1675) it was divided into two amts (counties): Romsdal (which included Nordmøre) and Sunnmøre (which included Nordfjord). In 1680 (only 5 years later), Sunnmøre (including Nordfjord) was merged into Bergenhus amt. Then in 1689 (another 9 years later), the three regions of Romsdal, Sunnmøre and Nordmøre were again merged into one amt/county: Romsdalen. Then in 1701 (another 11 years later) Romsdalen amt was split and divided between Trondhjems amt (which got Romsdal and Nordmøre) and Bergenhus amt (which got Sunnmøre). In 1704 (a mere 4 years later), the three regions of Romsdal, Sunnmøre and Nordmøre were again merged into one county. The borders of the county have not been changed much since 1704. The annex parish of Vinje within the larger Hemne parish was transferred from Romsdalens amt to Søndre Trondhjems amt in 1838 (according to the 1838 Formannskapsdistrikt law, a parish could no longer be divided between two counties, so Vinje had to be in the same county as the rest of the parish). In 1919, the name of the county was changed to Norwegian: Møre fylke. In 1936, the name was again changed to Norwegian: Møre og Romsdal fylke.
The county governor is the government's representative in the county. The governor carries out the resolutions and guidelines of the Storting and Government. This is done first by the county governor performing administrative tasks on behalf of the ministries. Secondly, the county governor also monitors the activities of the municipalities and is the appeal body for many types of municipal decisions.
The word for county (amt or fylke) has changed over time. From 1671 until 1918 the title was Norwegian: Amtmann i Romsdalens amt. From 1 January 1919 until 1 January 1936, the title was Norwegian: Fylkesmann i Møre. On 1 January 1936, the title was changed to Norwegian: Fylkesmann i Møre og Romsdal. On 1 January 2021, the title was again changed to the gender-neutral Norwegian Nynorsk; Nynorsk, Norwegian: Statsforvaltaren i Møre og Romsdal.
Møre og Romsdal county has had the following governors:[2] [3] [4]
| County governors of Møre og Romsdal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | Name | ||
| 1671 | 1675 | Christian Lindenow (1632 - 1675) | ||
| 1675 | 1677 | Fredrik von Offenberg (1610 - 1677) | ||
| 1680 | 1681 | Daniel Knoff (1614 - 1687) | ||
| 1681 | 1691 | Jonas Lilienskiold (1651 - 1691) | ||
| 1691 | 1700 | Iver von Ahnen (1657 - 1722) | ||
| 1702 | 1703 | Hans Lilienskiold (1650 - 1703) | ||
| 1704 | 1719 | Hans Hanssen Nobel (1657 - 1732) | ||
| 1719 | 1729 | Erik Must (1683 - 1729) | ||
| 1729 | 1730 | Michael Worm (1707 - 17??) | ||
| 1730 | 1742 | Christian Sørensen Solgaard (1687 - 1742) | ||
| 1742 | 1751 | Christian Ulrik Tønder (1699 - 1751) | ||
| 1751 | 1760 | Andreas Fieldsted (1717 - 1788) | ||
| 1760 | 1773 | Niels Krog Collin (1718 - 1782) | ||
| 1773 | 1800 | Even Hammer (1732 - 1800) | ||
| 1800 | 1811 | Ole Hannibal Sommerfeldt (1753 - 1821) | ||
| 1811 | 1840 | Hilmar Meincke Krohg (1776 - 1851) | ||
| 1840 | 1853 | Gudbrand Thesen (1792 - 1866) | ||
| 1853 | 1893 | Nils Weyer Arveschoug (1807 - 1894) | ||
| 1893 | 1902 | Ludvig Arnoldus Leth (1836 - 1902) | ||
| 1902 | 1906 | Alexander Lange Kielland (1849 - 1906) | ||
| 1906 | 1913 | Birger Kildal (1849 - 1913) | ||
| 1914 | 1928 | Oddmund Vik (1858 - 1930) | ||
| 1928 | 1952 | Trygve Utheim (1884 - 1952) | ||
| 1941 | 1945 | Erling Kvadsheim (1885 - 1958) (WWII Occupied government) | ||
| 1952 | 1958 | Olav Berntsen Oksvik (1887 - 1958) | ||
| 1958 | 1966 | Erling Anger (1909 - 1999) | ||
| 1966 | 1972 | Erling Sandene (1921 - 2015) | ||
| 1972 | 1977 | Kåre Ellingsgård (1926 - 2017) | ||
| 1977 | 1 Jan 2002 | Alv Jakob Fostervoll (1932 - 2015) | ||
| 1 Jan 2002 | 1 Oct 2009 | Ottar Befring (1939 - 2023) | ||
| 1 Oct 2009 | 31 Dec 2018 | Lodve Solholm (born 1949) | ||
| 1 Jan 2019 | 30 Sept 2021 | Rigmor Brøste (born 1965) Acting governor for Botten. | ||
| 1 Jan 2019 | present | Else-May Norderhus (born 1973) Did not take office until 2021 after finishing her Parliamentary term. | ||