Departmental council (France)

The departmental councils (French: conseils départementaux [kɔ̃sɛj depaʁtəmɑ̃to]; singular, conseil départemental [kɔ̃sɛj depaʁtəmɑ̃tal]) of France are representative assemblies elected by universal suffrage in 98 of the country's 101 departments.

[a] Prior to the 2015 French departmental elections they were known as general councils (conseils généraux; singular, conseil général).

[2] This law was repealed on 4 December 1793; it was restored as the "law on the division of the territory of the Republic and its administration" on 17 February 1800, in which, "General Council of the departments" were formed.

The first female president of a department council was Évelyne Baylet in Tarn-et-Garonne in 1970.

[6] Law 175 of 26 February 2008 states that there must be at least one candidate of each gender in all departmental council elections.