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Contents 1 Early modern usage 2 Modern usage 2.1 Australia 2.2 Canada 2.3 India 2.4 United Kingdom 2.4.1 England and Wales 2.4.2 City of London 2.4.3 Scotland 2.5 Ireland 2.6 United States 2.6.1 High Sheriff in the United States 3 See also 4 References

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. The term "sheriff" originates from the older office position of "shire reeve".

"The sheriff is an officer of high respectability in our juridical system, and was known to the most early ages of the common law." (James Wilson, Lectures on Law, vol. 2, chapter 7, "The subject continued. Of sheriffs and coroners.") At the time Wilson stated this, in 1790-1, the powers and duties of a sheriff were "in general, coincident with those of a [marshal]." At that time, marshals were appointed "for each district for the term of four years; but [were] removable from... office at pleasure." According to the then state of constitutional law, the "president nominates, and, with the advice and consent of the senate, appoints him."

Wilson also notes that the office of coroner is, "in many instances, a necessary substitute: for if the sheriff is interested in a suit, or if he is of affinity with one of the parties to a suit, the coroner must execute and return the process of the courts of justice." (Ibid.)

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 judgements, 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 judgement debtors who do not satisfy the debt), providing court security, enforcing arrest warrants, evictions, taking juveniles into custody and running the jury system.

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. Sheriffs are defined under Section 2 of the 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, provincial police or Royal Canadian Mounted Police as appropriate.

In 2006 in the province of Alberta, the sheriff duties were expanded to include highway patrols in the province to free up RCMP officers for other police duties; 21 new armed sheriffs were appointed for this purpose in September 2006.^[1] As of the beginning of July 2007, there are 84 armed sheriffs patrolling Alberta highways. In November 2007 the Alberta Sheriffs' introduced a Warrant Apprehension Unit to clean up the some 200,000 warrants in Alberta. ^[2]

See also: Sheriff of Mumbai

Among cities in India, only 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.

Main article: High Sheriff

The High Sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement position in Anglosphere countries. The High Sheriff of an English or Welsh county is an unpaid, partly ceremonial post appointed by The Crown through a Warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of Cornwall.

Historically, the court officers empowered to enforce High Court writs were called Sheriffs or Sheriff's Officers. In April 2007 they were replaced by High Court enforcement officers.

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 is not. The aldermanic sheriff is then likely to become Lord Mayor in due course.

Main article: Sheriff Court

See also: Scots law

In Scotland, a sheriff is an analogous to a judge and sits in a second-tier court, called the Sheriff Court. The Sheriff is legally qualified, in comparison with a lay Justice of the Peace who preside over the first-tier District Courts in Scotland.

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. Within each Sheriffdom there are several Sheriff Courts; each Court has at least one courtroom and at least one Sheriff. A Sheriff may sit at different courts throughout the Sheriffdom. Scottish Courts Website

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.

In the Republic of Ireland Sheriff is the title given to what would be called bailiff in England and Wales. They can seize goods or demand payment in satisfaction of money judgments against debtors.

Main article: Sheriffs in the United States

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)

In the United States a sheriff is generally (but not always) the highest, usually elected, law enforcement officer of a county and commander of militia in that county. The political election of a person to serve as a police leader is an almost uniquely American tradition. (The practice has been followed in the British Channel Island of Jersey since at least the 16th century.^[3]) 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. (In some states, however, a Sheriff may not be a sworn officer but merely an elected official in charge of sworn officers.) These officers 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, Deputy Sheriff Coroner or Deputy Sheriff/Coroner, and the sheriff's title is 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 some counties, the undersheriff is the Warden of the county Jail (gaol) or other local Correctional institution.

In the U.S., 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 northeastern U.S., 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.

Sheriff offices may coexist with other county level law enforcement agencies such as the County police, County park police, county detectives etc.

Some U.S. States have a similar position to the British High Sheriff; however, only the states of Hawaii, New Hampshire and Rhode Island still use it.

The New York City Sheriff functions as a de facto high sheriff, as his jurisdiction covers New York City, which contains the five New York Counties - each of which contains an Undersheriff.

• High Sheriff
• Police memorabilia collecting
• Sharif, an Arab office sometimes anglicised as "Sheriff"
• Schultheiß, the equivalent German mediæval office
• Constable
• Marshal
• Viscount

1. ^ Alberta sheriffs make highway debut this weekend, CBC News, 1 September 2006
2. ^ Alberta Highway Sheriff Patrol Ranks Increased by 20, Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, 18 May 2007
3. ^ Balleine's History of Jersey