In the United States, a sheriff is a county's chief officer for law enforcement and peace keeping. More than 95% of sheriffs nationwide are elected by the citizens of their respective counties.

A sheriff's office is typically tasked with operating jails, security at courthouses and county buildings, protection of judges and juries, preventing breaches of the peace, and coordinating with municipal police departments.World Book Encyclopedia Volume 16 Field Enterprises Educational Corporation Copyright 1963 A sheriff's office may also be responsible for security at public events and areas.A Historical Perspective of the Office of Sheriff By Sheriff Roger Scott, Dekalb County, Illinois

A sheriff's subordinate officers are referred to as deputies and they enforce the law in accordance with the sheriff's direction and orders.

Overview Sheriff's office The law enforcement agency headed by a sheriff is most commonly referred to as the "Sheriff's Office", while some are instead called the "Sheriff's Department." According to the National Sheriffs' Association, an American sheriff's advocacy group, there were 3,081 sheriff's offices . These range in size from very small (one- or two-person) forces in sparsely populated rural areas to large, full-service law enforcement agencies, such as the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which is the largest sheriff's office and the seventh largest law enforcement agency in the United States, with 16,400 members and 400 reserve deputies.

A regular officer of a sheriff's office is typically known as a deputy sheriff, sheriff's deputy or informally as a deputy. In a small sheriff's office, the deputies are supervised directly by the sheriff. Large sheriff's offices have several ranks in a similar manner to a police department. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has thousands of regular deputies, who are eight ranks below the sheriff. The actual second-in-command of the sheriff typically holds the title of chief deputy or undersheriff. In some counties, the undersheriff is the warden of the county jail.

Election Of the 50 U.S. states, 48 have sheriffs. The two exceptions are Alaska, which does not have counties, and Connecticut, which replaced its with the state and judicial marshals in 2000. Washington, D.C., and the five territories also do not have county governments.

Sheriffs are elected to four-year terms in 43 states, two-year terms in New Hampshire, three-year terms in New Jersey, and six-year terms in Massachusetts. Sheriffs are appointed instead of elected in Hawaii, Rhode Island and a small number of counties elsewhere.

In many rural areas of the United States, particularly in the South and West, the sheriff has traditionally been viewed as one of a given county's most influential political office-holders.

Research shows that sheriffs have a substantial incumbency advantage in elections. An incumbent sheriff has a "45 percentage point boost in the probability of winning the next election – far exceeding the advantages of other local offices." Relative to appointed police chiefs, sheriffs hold office for twice as long.

Duties

The role of a sheriff's office varies considerably from state to state and even from county to county. Sheriffs and their deputies are sworn peace officers with the power to make arrests and serve before a magistrate or judge, serve warrants for arrest or order for arrest, and give a ticket/citation in order to keep the peace. Some states extend this authority to adjacent counties or to the entire state. In a small sheriff's office, the sheriff is likely to carry out law enforcement duties just like a regular deputy or police officer. In a medium-sized or large sheriff's office, this is rare and the sheriff will primarily perform leadership and management.

Many sheriff's offices also perform other functions such as traffic control, animal enforcement, accident investigations, homicide investigation, narcotics investigation, transportation of prisoners, school resource officers, search and rescue, and courthouse security. Larger departments may perform other criminal investigations or engage in other specialized law enforcement activities. Some larger sheriff's departments may have aviation (including fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters), motorcycle units, K9 units, tactical units, mounted details, or water patrols at their disposal.

In some areas of the country, such as in California's San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, Sierra, Tulare, Ventura, and other counties, the sheriff's office also has the responsibility of a coroner's office, and is charged with recovering deceased persons within their county and conducting autopsies. The official in charge of such sheriff's departments is typically titled sheriff-coroner or sheriff/coroner, and officers who perform this function for such departments are typically titled deputy sheriff-coroner or deputy coroner.

Many sheriff's departments enlist the aid of local neighborhoods, using a community policing strategy, in working to prevent crime. The National Neighborhood Watch Program, sponsored by the National Sheriffs' Association, allows civilians and law enforcement officers to cooperate in keeping communities safe.

Sheriff's offices may coexist with other county level law enforcement agencies such as county police or county park police.

Restricted service – provide basic court related services such as keeping the county 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 public 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 areas by contract. Full service – The most common type, provide all traditional law-enforcement functions, including countywide patrol and investigations irrespective of municipal boundaries.

Federal equivalents There are two federal equivalents of the sheriff; the United States Marshals Service, an agency of the Department of Justice. There are 94 United States Marshals, one for each federal judicial district. The U.S. Marshal and Deputy Marshals are responsible for the transport of prisoners and security for the United States district courts, and also issue and enforce certain civil processes. The Marshal of the United States Supreme Court who performs all court related duties for the Supreme Court of the United States.

County Sheriffs by U.S. states

Alabama In Alabama, a sheriff is an elected official and the chief law enforcement officer in any given county. There is one sheriff for each of Alabama's 67 counties, with a varying number of deputies and various staff members (usually dependent on the population). A sheriff's office generally provides law-enforcement services to unincorporated towns and cities within the boundaries of the counties.

Alaska The office of sheriff does not exist in Alaska by the State's Constitution. Instead the functions that would in other states be performed by sheriffs and their deputies (such as civil process, court security, and prisoner transport) are performed by Alaska State Troopers and Alaska DPS Judicial Services Officers, who are the equivalent of bailiffs in other states. AJS officers wear uniforms similar to troopers and staff district court facilities statewide but not magistrate's courts. Their peace officer status is limited to courthouses and when transporting prisoners in custody. Additionally, with no county jails, Alaska Department of Corrections runs regional prisons which have separate male and female inmate "pretrial wings", which keep pretrial inmates who are legally innocent, separate from convicted prisoners who are serving a court imposed sentence following a criminal conviction. Pretrial wing units are the Alaskan equivalent of other states' county jails. This uniquely makes AK DOC officers both correctional officers and jailers. Pretrial units house persons who are formally charged with crimes and remanded to pretrial custody, vs. traditional prisons for persons convicted and sentenced to a term of incarceration.

Arizona

In Arizona, a sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of one of the 15 counties of the state, with a varying number of deputies and assorted staff (usually dependent on population). A constitutional officer specifically established by the Arizona Constitution, a sheriff, who heads a sheriff's office (Pima County uses the term "sheriff's department" instead), generally provides law enforcement services to unincorporated towns and cities within the boundaries of their county, maintains the county jail, and conducts all service of process for the Superior Court division for that county. In addition, many sheriff's offices have agreements with the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) and local police agencies to provide for the transport and detention of prisoners. After sentencing, many convicted persons are remanded over to the ADC to serve their sentence, but this has not always been the case.

Arizona is unique in that many sheriff's offices have formed semi-permanent posse units which can be operated as a reserve to the main deputized force under a variety of circumstances, as opposed to solely for fugitive retrieval as is historically associated with the term.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) is the largest sheriff's office in Arizona, with 575 sworn officers and 2,735 civilian and detention employees . The MCSO is currently headed by Sheriff Jerry Sheridan.

Arkansas

In Arkansas, sheriffs and their deputies are fully empowered peace officers with county-wide jurisdiction and thus, may legally exercise their authority in unincorporated and incorporated areas of a county. Under state law, sheriffs and their deputies, as well as all other law enforcement and peace officers, are on-duty 24 hours a day, meaning they can make arrests with or without a warrant (provided the warrant-less arrest is a result of a violation of law committed in their presence or view).

The duties of an Arkansas sheriff generally include providing law enforcement services to residents, managing county jail(s), and providing bailiffs for the county, district, circuit, and other courts within the county. By Arkansas law, the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of the county. There are 75 county sheriffs in Arkansas, one for each county, regardless of its population size.

With very limited exceptions, sheriffs and their deputies may exercise their official authority only within the geographical boundaries of their specific county.

The office of sheriff was created by the state constitution and the office has not been substantially changed in 100 years.

Sheriffs in Arkansas are elected in even numbered years by citizens of their county to serve a term of four years in office in accordance with the state constitution. Sheriffs rely upon the county's legislative body, known as the "Quorum Court", to appropriate funding and approve the yearly operating budget. However, in all other circumstances, the sheriff is entirely independent in the management of his elected office and is not subservient to or accountable to any other elected county official or body.

Under Arkansas law, a sheriff cannot campaign for reelection while wearing a county-owned badge.

California