The administrative centre was the village of Hægelandskrossen where Hægeland Church is located.

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

(Vennesla was previously part of the old municipality of Øvrebø og Hægeland until 1865).

The first element comes from the word heilagr which means "holy", likely since this area was important to ancient Norse pagan worship.

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