[3] The parish of Biri was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law).

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee.

One possibility is that the Old Norse name is derived from the word berhíð which means "bear den".

[6] The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Biri was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms.

The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: The mayors of Biri:[13]