As one of Norways first lensman office, we are now on Internet. "The police must be more visible", the politicians (and many others) says.

Bindal lensman district is located in Namdal Police district, and is the southernmost lensman district in Nordland county. The district includes Bindal municipality in the south of Helgeland. North of Bindal lies Sømna, Brønnøy and Grane & Hattfjelldal, and to the south is Namdal in Nord-Trøndelag county.

Bindal lensman district is 1262 km², and a large part of this is sea, fjords and wilderness. The largest of the fjords are Bindalsfjorden with several fjords attached, and Tosenfjorden which is 42 km and stretches north-east of Terråk. The wilderness is mainly to the east of Terråk, towards Grane & Hattfjelldal and Namsskogan. Some areas in the district are already preserved, and several more will be.

The population is 2008 (1st of January 1997, source: Statistics Norway). Most of the people in Bindal lives at Terråk and Bindalseidet, but the district also has spread population in smaller villages. Approx. 80 persons must use boat to the mainland. The district has several cabins and cottages, and there is a lot of boating at sea. During the last years there has been a significant increase of tourists to Bindal, both Norwegians and foreigners. Most of them are coming to Bindal to enjoy the possibilities of the wildlife.

The distance of roads is 195 km. The main road through the district is the R17 (National Coastroad). Other main roads are R802/771 leading to Leka and Nærøy, and R801 from Årsandøy to Terråk. The length of these roads is 87 km. There are ferry connections between Holm and Vennesund in Sømna and from Røytvoll to Harangsfjord, a remote part of Bindal with no road connection.

The principal industries of Bindal are agriculture, forestry, industry and tourist trade.
A/S Bindalsbruket at Terråk - with its 150 employees - is the most important industry in the municipality. The products are doors and timber. Kolsvik power station in Tosenfjorden is a big construction, making electric power and delievering it all over the region. Plahte's properties, consisting of 162.500 acres outlying field, runs a business of forestry and tourism including fishing and hunting.

Bindal lensman office has its administration at Terråk, where also the municipalitys administration office is located. We moved into our new office building at Terråk the 1st of December 1994.

POLICERELATED WORK (40-50% of the work)

Public service

Investigation
Investigate all criminal offences as:
- violence
- crimes for profit
- narcotics
- sexual assaults
- vandalism/damage to property
- traffic offences
- environmental crime
- working environment
- economic crime
Investigate fire, accidents etc.

Traffic duty
Minor technical controls
Speed surveillance
Driving while under the influence of alcohol
Safetybelt controls
Traffic regulation
Surveillance in general

Rescue service
Initiate, lead and coordinate all operations regarding accidents and hostile situations
Initiate and lead all search operations
Exercises

Crime prevention
Education in schools
Cooperation with other national units
Direct actions against groups, special environments, different types of crimes etc.

Immigration control
Passport controll
Processing work and residence permits etc.

Court hearing, transport and bringing before the court

Nature supervision
Supervision in outlying field
Controlling hunting, fishing, motor vehicles, protected areas, cultural sights etc.

Tasks for external instances

Legal and licensing tasks
Application for weapons, lottery, boat registration
Lost property, driving licence
Passport applications
Lottery/bingo
Permission to arrange festivals (dances)
Licenses for selling alcohol
Licenses for hotels and restaurants
Approving shooting ranges
Matters of traffic-signs
Reports about digging
License for blasting
Permission to buy explosives
Military business
Second hand trading
Permission to cremate
Toxic permits

Guidance/service
Guidance in law and rules
Help writing a will
If you have locked your keys in your car, we can assist you

CIVIL DUTIES (20-30% of the work)

Enforcement officer
Distress - pledge
Forced sale at auction
Returning stolen property
Deviation of real property
Temporary punishment, arrest, registration etc.
Debt cases

'Hovedstevnevitnefunksjon'
Announsing public documents, such as summons, sentences, claims etc.

'Notarialfunksjon'
Confirm public documents concerning debt, deed of conveyance etc.

'Skifterettsoppgaver'
Recieve reports about death
Deal with estates of deceased person
Register estates of deceased person

Valuations
Secretary for Nature disaster funds
Valuation (taxes, disagreements etc.)
Having property valued (taxes)

Others
Secretary for Local protectors
Member of local council for enlistment
Member of local council for preparedness
Member of Fire departement

ADMINISTRATION (approx. 20% of the work)

	Lensman Lars Ivar Mogstad, age 38 Birthplace: Verran, Nord-Trøndelag Education: The Police Academy, class of -83 At the office since 1993
	Deputy lensman Stein Okstad, age 32 Birthplace: Bindal, Nordland Education: The National Police Academy, class of -95 At the office since 1995
	Secretary Ruth Skjelsvik, age 40 Birthplace: Bindal, Nordland At the office since 1995
	The police-bear Eddy, age unknown Birthplace: Never-never-land At the office as long as he can remember

If you have any questions, or if you just want to say hello, you can write, call or send us an E-mail. You are also welcome to sign or view our guestbook. You can also view our old guestbook.