The 2008 Saxony district reform (also known as the 2008 administrative and functional reform or 2008 district reform) came into force on 1 August 2008. The most important element of the reform was the further amalgamating, annexing, and merging of the districts created in the course of the 1994-1996 Saxony district reform, including the smaller independent cities.For a transitional period of five months, the formerly independent cities of Görlitz, Hoyerswerda, Zwickau and Plauen continued to perform district tasks, so that the district reform was practically only completed on 1 January 2009 when the new districts took over these tasks.
The reform was integrated into an administrative reform of the Saxon state authorities. On the basis of a proposal drawn up by a commission of experts, some of the state tasks were transferred to districts and municipalities.
A proposed abolition of the regional councils was not initially implemented, but the renaming to state directorates or directorate districts was within the framework of the Saxon Administrative Reorganization Act.[1] On 1 March 2012, the three directorate districts were combined to form the Saxony State Directorate with locations in Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig.