SHERIFF

Usually the chief peace officer of a county.

The modern office of sheriff in the United States descends from a one-thousand-year-old English tradition: a "shire-reeve" (shire-keeper) is the oldest appointment of the English crown. Because county governments were typically the first established units of government in newly settled American territories, sheriffs were among the first elected public officials in an area and thus developed a leading role in local law enforcement.

A dichotomy frequently exists today between a sheriff's jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of a local police department. A metropolitan area may encompass an entire county or more; police departments and sheriffs will often maintain concurrent jurisdiction in the overlapping area. A sheriff may assume that a local police department will do its duty in enforcing the law, but the primary obligation rests with the sheriff and requires him to act when evidence of neglect of that duty exists.

Some state constitutions specifically provide for the office of sheriff, and state legislatures frequently establish conditions of office. Sheriffs are typically chosen in a county election. To serve as sheriff, an individual must usually meet certain requirements: residence within the jurisdiction, no criminal record, U.S. citizenship, and compliance with provisions guarding against nepotism. Sometimes officeholders must also satisfy certain age, physical, and educational requirements. A sheriff typically takes an oath and posts a bond upon taking office to ensure the faithful performance of the duties of the office. Compensation typically consists of commissions or fees for particular services performed, a fixed salary, or a combination of fees and salary.

State statutes or state constitutions regulate many duties of a sheriff and emphasize preserving the peace and enforcing criminal laws. Sheriffs arrest and commit to jail felons and other lawbreakers, including pretrial detainees and sentenced prisoners. They transport prisoners to state penal facilities and mental patients to state commitment facilities. In addition, a sheriff is usually responsible for the custody and care of the county courthouse and the jail, attends upon courts of record in serving process, and often has the power to summon jurors. As an officer of the court, a sheriff is subject to a court's orders and direction. Sheriffs also have the power to serve process, including summons, mesne (intermediate) process, and final process.

State statutes define a sheriff's role in serving process. Generally a sheriff is the proper officer to execute all writs returnable to court, unless another person is appointed. A sheriff must execute process without attempting to determine its validity. A court will not direct or advise a sheriff as to the manner of executing process, but she has a duty to effect service promptly, respectfully, and without unnecessary violence. A sheriff must exercise due diligence but need not expend all possible efforts in effecting service.

As part of the traditional common-law duties passed down from the English, sheriffs retain the power to summon the aid of a posse, or posse comitatus, as it is sometimes called. Ideally, a posse furnishes immediate, able-bodied assistance to a sheriff in need. For example, a sheriff may summon bystanders to assist in recapturing an escaped prisoner. These persons are neither officers nor private citizens. They are generally clothed with the same protection of the law as the sheriff and have full authority to provide the sheriff with any necessary assistance.

Sheriffs also levy writs of attachment, that is, the seizure of a debtor's property pursuant to a court order. The sheriff must safeguard seized goods from damage or loss, but he does not absolutely ensure their safety. Generally, property that is lost, destroyed, or damaged by something other than a sheriff's neglect will not result in liability for the sheriff. After seizure, the goods are sold at a sheriff's auction to satisfy creditors' claims. A sheriff decides the time, manner, and place of a judicial sale, collects purchase monies, and distributes the proceeds pursuant to court instructions. A sheriff may not purchase property at a sheriff's sale.

In general, a sheriff may be liable in damages to any person injured as a consequence of a breach of duty connected with the office. A sheriff may not exceed the authority given by law: a sheriff who uses legal authority for illegal conduct is liable as if she had acted without process of law. Some instances where liability may be imposed include a negligent failure to seize sufficient available property that would reasonably be expected to satisfy a debt, a failure to execute process delivered for execution, a levy upon the wrong party, or an excessive levy. Liability is in a personal capacity, not in an official capacity. Limited immunity usually protects a sheriff from liability for acts performed in conjunction with official duties but will not shield her from liability caused by overstepping the authority of the office.

A sheriff typically has broad discretion in appointing, removing, and setting conditions of employment for deputies. A deputy is said to be clothed with the power and authority of the sheriff with respect to the sheriff's ministerial duties. For example, a deputy may act for the sheriff in the service and return of process, in making an execution or other judicial sale (including the appraisal of the property as a prerequisite to such sale), in executing a deed to a purchaser, in serving an execution for taxes, and in serving a garnishment summons.

A deputy's acts, breaches, or misconduct committed in the performance of official duties may result in liability on the sheriff's behalf. For example, in the absence of statutory authority to the contrary, a sheriff could be held liable for a deputy's reckless or wanton acts during an arrest, negligence in caring for and protecting prisoners, or failure to serve process or return a writ.

A sheriff may be removed from office for a variety of reasons, including habitual intoxication or intoxication on the job; misconduct in office, such as misuse of public funds or property; refusal to enforce the law; mistreatment of prisoners; neglect of duty; nepotism; or conviction of a crime.

further readings

Brennan, Columb. 1992. "Sheriffs' 1,000 Years." Law Institute Journal 66 (December).

Gullion, Steve. 1992. "Sheriffs in Search of a Role." New Law Journal (August 14).

cross-references

Service of Process.

sheriff, a title derived from the Saxon shire reeve, the king's principal administrative and judicial representative in each shire.

The sheriff's primary responsibility was to collect the king's revenues for the exchequer in Dublin. These included the profits of justice, the farm of the county (the annual fee he paid for holding office), rents from royal manors, and subsidies. Failure to meet the demands of the exchequer resulted in seizure of the sheriff's property. Not surprisingly, sheriffs employed high‐handed methods to satisfy these demands as much as for self‐enrichment. In 1295, for example, the sheriff of Kerry was accused by a grand jury of murder, dismemberment, seizing the land of Henry fitzRys for a missing syllable in a writ, falsely seizing the estates of the bishop of Ardfert because he refused to confer the precentorship on the sheriff's brother, buying up land with the king's revenues, and much else besides. His brother Adam, the subsheriff, was accused of rigging juries and extorting money from jurors anxious to avoid doing service in Dublin.

In his judicial capacity, the sheriff presided over the county court, kept watch on the king's interests by holding his tourn court in every cantred twice a year, summoned juries, executed writs, made attachments, levied fines, and delivered prisoners.

He was frequently obliged to defend the county in time of war and, when necessary, to enforce writs by calling on the aid of the posse (Latin posse comitatus).

Revd Canon C. A. Empey

sheriff (from Old English, ‘shire-reeve’) The chief representative of the crown in the shires (counties) of England from the early 11th century, taking over many of the duties previously performed by ealdormen. Sheriffs assumed responsibility for the fyrd, royal taxes, royal estates, shire courts, and presided over their own court, the Tourn. They abused these powers, as an inquest of 1170 showed, when many were dismissed. However, by c.1550 the office had become purely civil, as a result of the proliferation of specialist royal officials (Coroners, 1170, Justices of the Peace, 1361, Lords Lieutenant, 1547).

sheriff (in England and Wales) the chief executive officer of the Crown in a county, also known as the high sheriff, having various administrative and judicial functions; originally (in Anglo-Saxon England) the shire-reeve (Old English scīrgerēfa) was the representative of royal authority in a shire, and was responsible for the administration of the royal demesne and the execution of the law.

In the US, the sheriff is an elected officer in a county, responsible for keeping the peace; in films and books set in towns of the Wild West, the sheriff is often a key figure.

sher·iff / ˈsherif/ • n. (in the U.S.) an elected officer in a county who is responsible for keeping the peace. ∎  (also high sheriff) (in England and Wales) the chief executive officer of the Crown in a county, having various administrative and judicial functions. ∎  an honorary officer elected annually in some English towns. ∎  (in Scotland) a judge. DERIVATIVES: sher·iff·dom / -dəm/ n.

sheriff representative of the royal authority in a shire or county. OE. sċīrġerēfa, f. sċīr SHIRE + ġerēfa REEVE.
Hence sheriffalty XVI; see SHRIEVALTY.

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