Sheriff

For other uses, see Sheriff (disambiguation).

Sheriff is both a political and a legal office held under English common law, Scots law or U.S. common law, or the person who holds such office.

Modern usage

Australia

The office of Sheriff was first established in Australia in 1824. This was simultaneous with the appointment of the first Chief Justice of New South Wales. The role of the Sheriff has not been static, nor is it identical in each Australian State. In the past his duties included; executing court judgments, acting as a coroner, the transportation of prisoners, managing the gaols, and carrying out executions (through the employment of an anonymous hangman). Currently, the criminal law of no Australian State provides for capital punishment. A government department (usually called the Department of Corrections or similar) now runs the prison system and the Coroner’s Office handles coronial matters. The Sheriff is now largely responsible for enforcing the civil orders and fines of the court (seizing and selling the property of judgment debtors who do not satisfy the debt), providing court security and running the jury system.

Canada

Various jurisdictions in Canada on provincial and sub-provincial levels operate sheriff's departments primarily concerned with court bailiff services such as courtroom security, post-arrest prisoner transfer, serving legal processes, and executing civil judgments. Sheriff's are defined under the S2 Criminal Code Of Canada as "Peace Officers" and in many cases have the same authority as a Police Officer. In other parts of Canada not covered by a sheriff's agency, bailiff functions are handled directly by the local or provincial police or by the RCMP as appropriate.

India

Only three Indian cities, Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras) and Kolkata (Calcutta) have a Sheriff. The Sheriff has an apolitical, non executive role. Sheriffs preside over various city-related functions and conferences and welcomes foreign guests. The post is second to the mayor in the protocol list.

See also: Sheriff of Mumbai

United Kingdom

England

Main article: High Sheriff.

City of London

Main article: Sheriff of the City of London

In the City of London, the position of sheriff is one of the officers of the Corporation. Two are elected by the liverymen of the City each year to assist the Lord Mayor, attend the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, and present petitions to Parliament: usually one is an alderman and the other not. The aldermanic sheriff is then likely to become Lord Mayor in due course.

Scotland

Main article: Sheriff Court

In Scotland, a sheriff is a judge in the second-tier court, called the Sheriff Court. The sheriff is a professional, legally qualified judge, in comparison with the lay magistrates who preside over the lower-level District Courts in Scotland and magistrates courts in England.

The sheriff court is the court of first instance for both civil and criminal cases. However, the court's powers are limited, so that major crimes such as rape or murder and complex or high-value civil cases are dealt with in the High Court (for criminal matters) or the Court of Session (for civil matters).

There are six Sheriffdoms in Scotland, each with a Sheriff Principal. Under each sheriffdom are sheriff districts, each with a court presided over by a sheriff.

Sheriffs are usually advocates and increasingly solicitors with many years legal experience. Until recently, they were appointed by the Scottish Executive, on the advice of the Lord Advocate. However, the Scotland Act 1998 introduced the European Convention of Human Rights into Scots law. A subsequent legal challenge to the impartiality of the Sheriffs based on the provisions of the Convention led to the setting up of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland, which now makes recommendations to the First Minister, who nominates all judicial appointments in Scotland other than in the District Court. Nominations are made to the Prime Minister, who in turn makes the recommendation to the Queen.

(See: Scots law)

United States

In the United States a sheriff is generally, but not always, the highest, usually elected, law-enforcement officer of a county. The political election of a person to serve as a police leader is a uniquely American tradition. All law-enforcement officers working for the agency headed by a sheriff are called sheriff's deputies or deputy sheriffs and are so called because they are deputized by the sheriff to perform the same duties as he or she. They may be subdivided into general deputies and special deputies. In some places, the sheriff has the responsibility to recover any deceased persons within their county. That is why often the full title is Deputy Sheriff-Coroner or Deputy Sheriff Coroner or Deputy Sheriff/Coroner and the sheriff's title is Sheriff‑Coroner or Sheriff Coroner or Sheriff/Coroner. The second-in-command of the department is sometimes called an undersheriff or "Chief Deputy". This is akin to the deputy chief of police position of a police department.

In the US, the relationship between the sheriff and other police departments varies widely from state to state, and indeed in some states from county to county. In the northeast the sheriff's duties have been greatly reduced with the advent of state level law enforcement agencies, especially the state police and local agencies such as the county police.

Sheriffs generally fall into three broad categories:

• Restricted service - providing basic services such as keeping the jail, transporting prisoners, providing courthouse security and other duties with regard to service of process and summonses that are issued by county and state courts. The sheriff also often conducts auction sales of real property in foreclosure in many jurisdictions, and is often also empowered to conduct seizures of chattel property to satisfy a judgment. In other jurisdictions, these civil process duties are performed by other officers, such as a marshal or constable.
• Limited service - along with the above perform some type of traditional law enforcement function such as investigations and patrol. This may be limited to security police duties on county properties(and others by contract) to the performance of these duties in unincorporated areas of the county, and some incorporated ares by contract.
• Full service - provides all tradition law enforcement functions to include countywide patrol and investigations irrespective of municipal boundaries.

The federal equivalent to the office of sheriff is the United States Marshals Service, an agency of the Department of Justice: there is one U.S. Marshal for each federal judicial district (94 total); the Marshal and his or her deputies are responsible for the transport of prisoners and security for the United States District Courts, and also issue and enforce certain civil process. there is also a Marshal of the Supreme Court who performs all court related duties.

There are about 3,500 County Sheriff's Offices in the United States ranging from 1 or 2 man forces to the 11,000 member Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The average Sheriff's Office in the United States employs 24.5 sworn officers.

Compare to the former role of High Sheriff in England and Wales.

California

In California, the sheriff's department of each county polices those areas of the county that are not lying within the jurisdiction of a police department (e.g., incorporated cities). As such, the sheriff and his or her deputies in rural areas and unincorporated municipalities are equivalent to police officers in the cities. The sheriff's department may also provide policing services to incorporated cities by contract.

Interestingly, because the City and County of San Francisco are coterminous (and are the only city and county in California to be such), the San Francisco County Sheriff historically possessed police authority but now relegates itself to judicial duties only.

Prior to the year 2000 there was a marshal in each county who was responsible for providing bailiffs to the courts and for serving criminal and civil process. During a reorganization of the state judicial system in the early 2000s, the roles of marshal and sheriff were merged, so that California sheriffs assumed the duties of the former marshals.

Connecticut

Connecticut abolished County Sheriffs in 2000 by Public Act 00-01. All civil process serving deputies were sworn in as State Marshals and criminal special deputies were sworn in as Judicial Marshals. Constables remain municipal officers governed by their respective town or city.

Delaware

Although the Delaware Constitution states that the sheriff of each of the state's three counties is the "conservator of the peace", the Delaware Code does not include sheriffs in its definition of "law enforcement officer". In practice, deputy sheriffs handle only civil matters, serving writs, summonses and other legal process, and carrying out sheriff's sales. Delaware sheriffs have only one, extremely narrow criminal function, which is to detain at the courthouse defendants who are brought in or turn themselves in on outstanding capiases. Court security is handled by the Delaware Capitol Police, and law-enforcement in the unincorporated areas of the state by the Delaware State Police or the New Castle County Police (in New Castle County).

The apparent conflict between the Delaware Constitution and the Delaware Code recently led to a miniature constitutional crisis in which the Sussex County Sheriff claimed that the Constitution made him the chief law-enforcement officer of the county, thereby empowering him and his deputies to patrol the county and make arrests. The issue came to a head when the Sheriff placed flashing emergency lights and sirens on his department's vehicles, leading the state Department of Transportation to suspend the vehicles' registrations and threaten arrest of any deputy sheriff who was driving such a vehicle.[1] The Sheriff unsuccessfully argued for broader powers before the Delaware Supreme Court, and has also unsuccessfully lobbied the Sussex County Council for expanded powers.[2]

Florida

The Sheriffs in Florida are full service county agencies by state law with the exception of Miami-Dade County which has two sheriffs.

• One sheriff is simultaneously the Metropolitan Sheriff and the Director of Public Safety. As the Director of Public Safety he serves as the chief of the Miami-Dade Police Department.
• The other is a sheriff and Director of Corrections and is charged with the care and custody of prisoners.

Georgia

One of five county officials listed in the state constitution, Sheriffs in Georgia are full-service county officers. Article IX Section I of the constitution specifies that Sheriffs "shall be elected by the qualified voters of their respective counties for a term of four years and shall have such qualifications, powers and duties as provided by general law."

Most of the qualifications, powers and duties of a Sheriff in Georgia are detailed in Title 15, Chapter 16 of state law. Among other things, the law states that "the sheriff is the basic law enforcement officer of the several counties of this state." Section 10 makes it clear that the sheriff has as much authority within municipalities as he does in unincorporated areas of his county, although many sheriffs refrain from performing standard law enforcement functions within municipalities that have their own police department unless specifically requested to do so, or are required to do so in order to fulfill other provisions in state law.

In addition to law enforcement, sheriffs or their deputies execute and return all processes and orders of the courts; receive, transport, and maintain custody of incarcerated individuals for court; attend the place or places of holding elections; keep all courthouses, jails, public grounds, and other county property; maintain a register of all precious metal dealers; enforce the collection of taxes that may be due to the state; as well as numerous other duties.

The office of Sheriff in Georgia existed in colonial times, and was included in the first official constitution of Georgia in 1777. There is no limit to how many terms a Sheriff may serve. Title 15, Chapter 16, Section 40 of Georgia law specifies that, upon reaching 75 years of age, a Sheriff who has held that office for 45 or more years automatically holds the honorary office of sheriff emeritus of the State of Georgia.

Hawaii

In Hawaii, the Office of Sheriff falls under the Sheriff Division of the State Department of Public Safety.[3] It is the functional equivalent of a state police department and has the distinction of making Hawaii the only U.S. state without an officially named state police department and one of two with a statewide Sheriff's Department (the other being Rhode Island). Although the Sheriff Division's jurisdiction covers the entire state, its primary functions are judicial and executive protection, security at the state capitol, law-enforcement at Hawaii's airports, narcotics enforcement, prisoner transportation, the processing and service of court orders and warrants, and the patrol of certain roads and waterways in conjunction with other state agencies.

Kentucky

Sheriffs in Kentucky are elected for four year terms and are the chief law enforcement officer in their respective counties. Sheriffs departments in Kentucky have full police powers in all areas of their particular county, including incorporated cities and towns. In most cases, however, they will only patrol in cities when requested by the mayor and/or the chief of police or in the case of a major emergency. Deputies will jointly patrol unincorporated areas of their county with the Kentucky State Police, who have full statewide police authority. In additon, sheriffs in Kentucky are responsable for court security, serving court papers and transporting prisoners. They are also responsable for collecting real estate taxes.

One of the main differences between Kentucky sheriffs and sheriffs in other states is that Kentucky sheriffs do not run the county jails. County jails are run by a separate elected officer called a jailer who has the authority to employ deputy jailers. The sheriffs office, however, may be asked by the jailer to assist with jail security in the event of an emergency.

Sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, like municipal police officers, must be trained and certified as peace officers through the Kentucky Department of Justice Law Enforcement Training Center at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, unless they were formally state troopers. In this case, they would have received their certification through the Kentucky State Police Academy in Frankfort. However, even in this case, refresher training at EKU is required on a regular basis.

Louisiana

Louisiana has a general sheriff who is responsible for all unincorporated areas within their respective parishes. Louisiana has 64 parishes and 65 sheriffs. A parish is equivalent to a county.

Orleans Parish has two sheriffs:

• a criminal sheriff, who concentrates on law enforcement functions
• a civil sheriff, who is concerned with judicial and civil matters, property disposition, and so forth.

Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, counties that have sheriffs elect them to serve the needs of the geographic area covered by the county in certain aspects of law enforcement. All local law enforcement is handled at that city and town level, and state-level law enforcement is handled by the state police. Sheriffs do not have general police jurisdiction in their counties - permission is needed to patrol a municipality. Also, the Essex County Sheriffs Department is also located at the County's jail.

Michigan

In Michigan, sheriffs are constitutionally-mandated, elected county officials. All sheriff's offices have general law enforcement powers throughout their entire county, as well as traditional judicial process, court protection (bailiff) and jail operation powers. Sheriff's offices may primarily patrol areas of their county without municipal police services, however they are free to patrol anywhere in their county, including cities, villages and charter townships that have their own police services. Occasionally, this results in conflict over turf between municipal police agencies and sheriff's offices.[4]

In some counties, primarily urban counties such as Oakland, Macomb, Wayne and Washtenaw, sheriff's offices provide dedicated police services under contract to some municipalities, in lieu of those municipalities providing their own police services (Michigan law provides for or requires municipalities, depending upon their structure, to provide dedicated police services).

The sheriffs of all 83 Michigan counties are members of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association. This professional organization promulgates standardized insignias that are used, to varying degrees, by all Michigan sheriff's offices on their uniforms and vehicles.

Notably, the Michigan State Police have general law enforcement powers throughout the entire state. Thus, all Michigan residents are subject to at least two levels of general police services, state police and sheriff's offices, and residents of a municipality that has its own police service are also subject to a third level of general police service.

Nebraska

All Nebraska counties have sheriff's departments responsibile for general law enforcement functions except for areas covered by local city police departments. In larger cities such as Omaha or Lincoln, Sherriff's Departments performs mainly judicial duties such as serving warrants and courtroom security. Sheriff's deputies in Nebraska are certified by the state law enforcement commission and have full arrest powers.

New Hampshire

The New Hampshire position of High Sheriff dates back to the pre-Revolutionary War days. Today, there are 10 counties and 10 High Sheriff's in New Hampshire. The ten sheriffs are the highest ranking and most powerful uniformed law enforcement officer in the state. The state constitution gives the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff's in each county full law enforcement authority throughout the county. In 1911 this authority was expanded by the NH Legislature to include the entire state. The sheriff is elected to a two year term. They have no term limits. The Sheriff is responsible for patrol duties depending on the county this function may be limited, civil process, transport of prisoners, criminal and civil warrants. Most county sheriff's offices dispatch for many of the county communities. The Sheriff is also responsible for the security in all the county courthouses throughout the state. The sheriff also is responsible for the prisoners in the local district courts throughout NH.

New Jersey

Sheriffs in New Jersey are sworn law-enforcement officers with full arrest powers.[5] They also serve writs and other legal process and perform court security functions. The sheriff's office is responsible for the county jail in some counties, while this responsibility rests with a separate corrections department in other counties. In most counties, sheriff's office police functions are limited to patrolling county property such as parks, courts, county facilities, and roads; plus providing specialized units and support to local police, e.g., bomb squads, emergency response (SWAT) and investigative units. Bergen County also has a separate county-wide police force, which fulfills many of the police functions provided by sheriff's offices in other counties.

Essentially all areas of New Jersey are incorporated municipalities and the vast majority have their own local police agencies that provide general law enforcement. Sheriff's offices or the New Jersey State Police provide primary law enforcement in only a few rural areas that lack local police.

New York

Like most other states, sheriffs and deputy sheriffs in the State of New York are regular law-enforcement officers with full police powers and duties such as patrol work, prisoner transport, civil process, court security, etc. Many sheriff's offices in New York State also have K9, Marine, Aviation and SWAT units as well as various other specialized units. Examples are the deputy sherrifs in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties. Unit very recently most NYS sheriff's officers wore a standardized uniform (black pants, black shirt with dark gray Setson hat) and all patrol vehicles were marked in the same manner (white with red stripes, etc). Several counties have moved away from these practices. Patrol cars in these counties have different vehicle markings, and deputy sherrifs wear different uniforms. Some examples are Ulster County which has dark gray uniforms similar to the NY State Police and Warren County whose deputy sherrifs wear tan shirts with dark brown pants. Currently there are 57 county sheriff's offices and 1 city sheriff's office which covers the 5 counties of New York City.

New York City

The City of New York has a single Sheriff's Office serving the entire city; the Administrative Division headed by the NYC Sheriff and his staff controls the five county Divisions (each corresponding to a NYC borough) with an Undersheriff and Deputy sheriffs plus clerical staff. The Sheriff is appointed by the Mayor of New York City and reports to the Commissioner of Finance of the city's Department of Finance. The Sheriff's duties embrace the entire field of law, both criminal and civil. He is traditionally the chief peace officer in his jurisdiction and, like any peace officer, is required by law to take appropriate action when breaches of the criminal law occur. In New York City, the sheriff continues to maintain the dual role of enforcing judicial process as well as keeping the peace whenever called upon by the citizenry or the court system. The New York City Sheriff's Department carries out civil functions such as serving process and writs, evictions, serving mental hygiene and Family Court warrants, enforcing traffic and parking laws, and conducting sheriff's sales. The other traditional functions of a sheriff's office, such as court security and guarding prisoners, are handled by NYS Court Officers (a state agency) and the NYC Department of Corrections (a city agency). The City Marshal also performs some overlapping duties such as evictions. There are currently about 150 deputy sheriffs employed by the NYC Sheriff's Office. Deputies have full police officer powers and are allowed to carry firearms on and off duty (as per the NY State Penal Code).

Ohio

Until Ohio achieved statehood in 1803, the position of Sheriff was filled through appointments made at the pleasure of the Territorial Governor. The first Sheriff on the record in Ohio was Colonel Ebenezer Sproat. At the time he was appointed in 1788, Colonel Sproat's jurisdiction covered all of Washington County. This enormous area of land included all of eastern Ohio from the Ohio River to Lake Erie.

After statehood became a reality, only three public offices in Ohio were filled through the electoral process system. The position of Sheriff was one of them. Through this new system, William Skinner became the first elected Sheriff in the Buckeye State. Since the early 1800's, Ohio Sheriffs have been elected on the county level by the people they serve. By virtue of this process, this office has become the oldest law enforcement position in the United States. It is also the only remaining law enforcement office which is filled through the election method. The term of office for County Sheriffs in Ohio is four years.

In each of the 88 counties of Ohio, the Sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer. His primary duties are to provide common pleas court services and corrections on a countywide basis, and full police protection to the unincorporated areas of the county. However, he also maintains full police jurisdiction in all municipalities, townships, and villages. In an effort to become consistent on a statewide level, Ohio Sheriffs and Deputies wear a standardized uniform, and all patrol vehicles are marked in the same manner.

Within Ohio, Sheriff's Offices have probably one of the most extensive sets of responsibilities to those they serve. By statute they must provide the following:

Line Law Enforcement; Court Security and Service of Papers; Jail Operations; Extradition Process; Transportation of Prisoners.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania sheriffs may have all the traditional sheriff powers, but in practice perform only traditional court-related functions since the establishmant of the Pennsylvania State Police in 1905. The status of Pennsylvania's county sheriffs was in a legal grey area for many years. While sheriffs routinely provided court security, prisoner transport, and civil process services, it was less than clear whether they had actual law-enforcement powers. In the 1970s through the early 1990s, a number of defendants charged by deputy sheriffs with crimes attempted to suppress the results of their arrests on the basis that the deputies were not bona fide law-enforcement officers. In Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Leet, a 1991 decision by the Pennsylvania Superior Court, a 2-1 majority of the Court held that deputy sheriffs had no law-enforcement powers. That decision was reversed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a 1994 decision by Justice John P. Flaherty, which held that sheriffs do indeed have the power to enforce motor-vehicle laws. In his majority opinion, Justice Flaherty spent a great deal of time exploring the historical roots of the office of Sheriff and concluded that the powers developed as a matter of common law:

Though it may be unnecessary to cite additional authority, Blackstone confirms the common law power of the sheriff to make arrests without warrant for felonies and for breaches of the peace committed in his presence. Blackstone, Commentaries on the Common Law, Vol. IV, at 289. Indeed, such powers are so widely known and so universally recognized that it is hardly necessary to cite authority for the proposition. To make the point, how few children would question that the infamous Sheriff of Nottingham had at least the authority to arrest Robin Hood.

Presently, every Pennsylvania county has a Sheriff's Office. This has led to some overlap in places such as Allegheny County, where the Allegheny County Police is responsible for supporting local law-enforcement and patrolling county-owned property, including the Pittsburgh International Airport. Similarly, the Delaware County Courthouse and Park Police Department provide security police functions. With the newly-expanded powers of the County Sheriff, however, this has led to some power struggles. Another example is the Philadelphia Sheriff's Department, which has made clear its intent to carry out community law-enforcement while continuing its statutory duties.[6] This would obviously conflict with the role of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Rhode Island

The Rhode Island Division of the High Sheriff, is a state judicial officer with a High Sheriff who is responsible for state court security and seven county sheriff's responsible for State District court duties. Each Rhode Island county has only judicial functions.

Tennessee

In Tennessee, the sheriff is an elected officer with full police functions. The exception to the rule is Davidson County. In Davidson County, the sheriff only has civil and jail functions without the common law powers to keep the peace.

West Virginia

In West Virginia, the sheriff of a given county juggles his or her time between two distinct duties. They are the chief law enforcement officers in the county, although much of this duty is handled by their chief deputies. They are also responsible for the collection of any taxes due to the county. While many sheriffs have a background in professional law enforcement, others are politicians or other local notables. West Virginia sheriffs are limited to two consecutive four-year terms.

Famous American sheriffs

• Sheriff Buford Pusser - McNairy County, Tennessee portrayed in Walking Tall, and in a suite of songs on Drive-By Truckers' 2004 album, The Dirty South.
• Sheriff Joe Arpaio - Maricopa County, Arizona, famous for his stance on criminal justice.
• Sheriff Pat Garrett - Lincoln County, New Mexico, famous for killing Billy the Kid.
• Sheriff Bat Masterson - Ford County, Kansas
• Sheriff Sherman Block - Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, highest paid government administrator in the United States.
• Sheriff Gerald Hege - Davidson County, North Carolina, famous for his "no-deals" behavior and highly unorthodox way of fighting crime.
• Sheriff Grover Cleveland - Erie County, New York, the only sheriff ever to be elected president of the United States; in his case, he was elected to that office twice in non-consecutive terms.

Fictional American sheriffs

Many Western movies feature sheriffs of frontier towns who are either corrupt weaklings or glorious heroes who eventually rid their towns of all their mean elements. See Destry Rides Again and Dodge City for two examples of the latter type.

• Sheriff Andy Taylor - The Andy Griffith Show
• Sheriff Buford T. Justice - Smokey and the Bandit films
• Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane - The Dukes of Hazzard
• Sheriff Hildy Granger - She's the Sheriff
• Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo - B.J. and the Bear and The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo
• Sheriff Roy Mobey - Carter Country

See also

• High Sheriff
• Sharif, an Arab office sometimes anglicised as "Sheriff".
• Schultheiß, the equivalent German medieval office