Schepen

Originally, the word referred to member of a council of "deciders" – literally, "judgment finders" (oordeelvinders) – that sat at a mandatory public assembly called a ding ("thing" in English).

In Flanders, a schepen is a town alderman who serves on the executive board in the municipal government.

The executive board is referred to in Dutch as the "college van burgemeester en schepenen".

They have several executive responsibilities relating to their portfolios and thus assist the mayor in governing the town or city.

When acting in an administrative capacity, a schepen was similar to an alderman or town councillor, and is usually called that in English.

[3] The phrase schout en schepenen appears in many legal documents prior to the Napoleonic period, including the civil register of marriages.

The office of schepen was dissolved by the Napoleonic reforms at the end of the Ancien Régime.