The West-Limburg police zone brings together Beringen, Tessenderlo-Ham, and Heusden-Zolder

A royal decree of September 10, 2026, establishes, as of July 1, 2026, the police zone “Beringen/Tessenderlo-Ham/Heusden-Zolder”, which takes the name of the West-Limburg region police zone. The act is published in the Belgian Official Gazette of October 26, 2026, page 57536, under reference C − 2026/007642, in the “Other decrees” section of the Federal Public Service Interior.

The notice itself consists of two lines, but it records a structural decision: three Limburg municipalities — Beringen, Tessenderlo-Ham, and Heusden-Zolder — no longer each have their own local police force, but are grouped within a single zone. The text is written in the two national languages, Dutch and French, as required by the bilingual publication of the official journal.

The discrepancy between the dates is worth highlighting: the royal decree was signed on September 10, 2026, but its effect is set for July 1, 2026, nearly four months earlier. The publication of October 26, 2026, therefore makes public an institution that has already come into force.

One page, two new zones

The Belgian Official Gazette of October 26, 2026, devotes a second notice on the same page 57536 to the police redistricting of Limburg. A royal decree of October 1, 2026, establishes, as of January 1, 2026, the Noord-Limburg police zone, under reference C − 2026/007643.

This northern zone groups six municipalities:

• Lommel
• Hamont-Achel
• Pelt
• Hechtel-Eksel
• Leopoldsburg
• Peer

The two decisions, published side by side, thus outline a new provincial police geography: one zone in the north, one zone in the west, around the industrial basin of Beringen and Heusden-Zolder.

Regulated federal funding

The financial framework for these mergers is set by the federal regulations recalled in the ministerial circular PLP 68 of September 29, 2026, regarding the 2027 police budget, published in the Belgian Official Gazette of October 8, 2026. Two distinct mechanisms are provided for in Article 41bis/1 of the Integrated Police Act:

• a federal grant for merger costs, calculated at 250 euros per full-time equivalent staff member, capped at 1.5 million euros per merger;
• a federal merger endowment of 432 euros per full-time equivalent, multiplied by coefficients according to the size and nature of the operation.

The coefficients applicable to this endowment are as follows:

• 1.5 when the new zone consists of five or more municipalities;
• 2 when the merger is imposed by a legal provision;
• 0.8 below 200 operational full-time equivalents;
• 1.2 between 200 and 350;
• 1.5 above 350;
• 0 if the zone has already received a grant or if the request is submitted after December 31, 2029.

The reference staff count is determined as of December 31 of the financial year preceding the establishment of the new zone. The circular specifies that no amount may be entered into the initial budget under these grants: the sums are only recorded after a final federal decision, via a budget amendment.

What the notice does not say

The published notice is limited to the establishment of the zone and its effective date. It details neither the distribution of staff, nor the headquarters of the zone, nor the transition arrangements between the former bodies. These elements are the responsibility of the preparatory work and the organs of the new zone, and not the notice in the official journal.

For the residents of Beringen, Tessenderlo-Ham, and Heusden-Zolder, the consequence is concrete: interventions, service counters, and the chain of command now fall under a single police entity, rather than three. Furthermore, the late publication of the decree, nearly four months after its entry into force, invites the concerned municipalities to verify that their 2026 budgets have been properly adapted to the new perimeter.

• Source: Belgian Official Gazette, October 26, 2026, p. 57536 — reference C − 2026/007642.