A grietman is partly a forerunner of the current rural mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 in the province of Friesland

Friesland

Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...

, and partly the forerunner of a judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

. The area of jurisdiction was the municipality or gemeente. In the judge function, the concept was also found in the Western side of the province of Groningen

Groningen (province)

Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...

.

The grietman and judges were responsible for the administration and justice in the Frisian grietenij

Grietenij

A grietenij was a forerunner to the gemeente or municipality in Frisia, particularly inFriesland, and also in Groningen which are now a part of the Netherlands. From the end of the...

. The grietmannen were in turn elected or appointed, with the cooperation of the stadholder and the Executive Council. The eleven Frisian cities have mayors.

In the past it was thought that the heraldic Friese eagle was the privilege of a grietman and his descendants.

The Municipalities of Thorbecke law (promulgated in 1851) designated the Frisian grietman as mayors.