Hemne was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1911, the northern district of Heim (population: 1,533) was separated from Hemne to form a municipality of its own. This left Hemne with 3,425 residents. On 1 July 1924, Hemne was further divided with the eastern district of Snillfjord (population: 776) and the southern district of Vinje (population: 716) were separated from Hemne to form separate municipalities. After the division, Hemne had 2,030 residents remaining.