{"id":2840,"date":"2018-07-30T00:17:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-30T04:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.167.168.176\/~phillips\/kerriansnotebook\/kerriansnotebook\/?p=2840"},"modified":"2025-02-13T19:56:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T00:56:32","slug":"kn-p-115-what-does-a-sheriff-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pattiphillipsbooks.com\/kerriansnotebook\/2018\/07\/kn-p-115-what-does-a-sheriff-do\/","title":{"rendered":"KN, p. 115  &#8220;What does a Sheriff do?&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pattiphillipsbooks.com\/kerriansnotebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/VisitingDetectiveSheriffBadge.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2110\" title=\"VisitingDetectiveSheriffBadge\" src=\"https:\/\/pattiphillipsbooks.com\/kerriansnotebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/VisitingDetectiveSheriffBadge-276x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"276\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pattiphillipsbooks.com\/kerriansnotebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/VisitingDetectiveSheriffBadge-276x300.jpg 276w, https:\/\/pattiphillipsbooks.com\/kerriansnotebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/VisitingDetectiveSheriffBadge.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 276px) 100vw, 276px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">The only interaction most people ever have with a Sheriff is if they\u2019re watching the old \u201cAndy Griffiths Show\u201d on TV or are checking out a Western that features a Sheriff who has come to town to save the day. TV\/Movie portrayals aside, what does a Sheriff actually do? And how do his duties differ from those of a Police Chief? Are their jobs interchangeable?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">I had a chance to sit in on a training class with a Sheriff, and the differences are important.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Sheriff<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">He\/she is usually an elected official and is the highest ranking member of the department.<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Sheriffs generally appoint their own deputies and can appoint civilians to be deputies on the spot as needed.<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">He\/she can enforce the law, maintains the county correctional facility, and is sometimes the only law enforcement officer in the county.<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">He\/she transports witnesses and prisoners for county courts.<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Sheriffs can serve as tax collectors and therefore, can seize and sell property when taxes are in arrears.<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">He\/she serves subpoenas and civil papers (like divorce decrees or eviction notices, etc.)<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">He\/she decides on and maintains an operating budget.<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Every county has a Sheriff, but a Police Department is optional if the county has little crime within its boundaries.<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Sheriffs have concurrent jurisdiction within each village, town or city within the county.<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><br \/>\nThe Police Chief<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">A Police Chief is almost always appointed, and has no hiring\/firing powers.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Most Chiefs are selected by the mayor and approved by the city council, but some are hired by a City Manager and some are elected.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">A Police Chief has authority only over criminal matters and does not serve papers for civilian cases.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">A Police Chief can make recommendations for the annual departmental budget, but does not collect taxes or have control over the actual amount of the budget.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">The Police Chief\u2019s authority is restricted to their own town and they are legally civilians outside their town.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">In some states, some towns are very small, have little or no crime, and have no real need for a full Police Department. Detectives have nothing to do, so the department might be disbanded for economic reasons. In that case, the Sheriff\u2019s Department would handle whatever crime might occasionally occur.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Candidates have been known to switch from the Sheriff\u2019s Department over to the Police Department, but have to go through the new department\u2019s training program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">State Police have jurisdiction throughout the state.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">A Sheriff\u2019s Department has jurisdiction throughout the county.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">A Police Department has jurisdiction only within the town lines (unless in active pursuit of a suspect).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">If there is a fatal car crash on a state highway, the Highway Patrol handles it, but if there is a felony stop or shooting, then the county (and therefore Sheriff\u2019s Department) handles it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Other notes:<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">There are over 3,000 Sheriffs in the USA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">There are three states that don\u2019t have Sheriff\u2019s Departments: Alaska, which has no county governments; Connecticut, where Sheriffs have been replaced by Marshals; Hawaii, where Deputy Sheriffs work for the Department of Public Safety.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">I did a ride-along with a Deputy Sheriff out in a remote county one hot summer evening. While we rode on the highway, he explained what he looked for in suspicious behavior of other drivers on the road, showed me how his on-board computer worked while he drove at 65 mph on the highway, kept in touch with Dispatch about a developing hostage situation in the county, and ended the night with an investigation of a possible burglary. He felt that his cases had the same variety as a Police Officer\u2019s and he liked the wider jurisdiction of the Sheriff\u2019s Department.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Spend a similar evening in a Police Officer\u2019s car and while your tour might not take you as many miles, I would bet you might have the same experience \u2013 a proud officer explaining a job he loves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer; top: 2176px; left: 20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 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duties<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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