Sheriff

Not to be confused with sherif or sharif. For other uses, see Sheriff (disambiguation).

In principle, a sheriff is a legal official with responsibility for a "shire", i.e. county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country.

• In Scotland, sheriffs are judges.
• A sheriff (or High sheriff) is a ceremonial county or city official in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and India.
• In the United States of America, the duties of a sheriff vary across states and counties. A sheriff is generally an elected county official, and the duties of the sheriff's department generally include policing rural areas, maintaining county jails, and serving warrants and court papers.
• In the Republic of Ireland, sheriffs are legal officials similar to bailiffs in some counties and in the cities of Dublin and Cork.
• In Australia and South Africa sheriffs are legal officials similar to bailiffs. In these countries there is no link maintained between counties and sheriffs.
• In Canada, sheriffs used to be county legal officials. They exist in most provinces. But the one-to-one linkage between sheriffs and counties is no longer maintained. The provincial sheriff services generally manage and transport court prisoners, serve court orders, and in some provinces Sheriffs provide security for the court system, protect public officials, support investigations by local police services and in Alberta, Sheriffs carry out traffic enforcement.

In British English, the political or legal office of a sheriff, term of office of a sheriff, or jurisdiction of a sheriff, is called a shrievalty.

Term

The word "sheriff" is a contraction of the term "shire reeve". The term, from the Old English scīrgerefa, designated a royal official responsible for keeping the peace (a "reeve") throughout a shire or county on behalf of the king. The term was preserved in England notwithstanding the Norman Conquest. From the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the term spread to several other regions, at an early point to Scotland, latterly to Ireland and to the United States.

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 executing court judgements, acting as a coroner, transporting prisoners, managing the gaols and formally carrying out executions (through an anonymous hangman).

Australia no longer applies capital punishment. A state government department (usually called the Department of Corrections or similar) now runs the state prison system.

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, and running the jury system. Some State Sheriffs can also apply sanctions ranging from suspending driving licences and car registration to wheel clamping and arranging community service orders and as a last resort make arrests.

Canada

Some provinces in Canada operate sheriffs services. They are primarily concerned with services such as courtroom security, post-arrest prisoner transfer, serving legal processes and executing civil judgements. Sheriffs are defined under Section 2 of the Criminal Code of Canada as "peace officers". In other parts of Canada not covered by a sheriffs service, bailiff functions are handled directly by the provincial police or by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as appropriate.

Alberta

In 2006, the Province of Alberta expanded the duties of the provincial sheriffs service to include tasks such as court security and prisoner transport, traffic enforcement, executive protection and some investigation functions (SISU and SCAN). As of June 2008, The provincial sheriffs service consists of 105 traffic sheriffs who are assigned to one of seven regions in the province. Sheriffs also assist various police services in Alberta with prisoner management.

British Columbia

The responsibilities of sheriffs in the Province of British Columbia include providing security for the Provincial Court, Supreme Court, and Court of Appeal; planning high-security trials; providing an intelligence unit; assessing threats towards public officials and those employed in the justice system; protecting judges and Crown prosecutors; managing detention cells; transporting prisoners by ground and air; managing and providing protection for juries; serving court-related documents; executing court orders and warrants; and assisting with the coroner's court.

Nova Scotia

In the Province of Nova Scotia, the sheriffs service focuses on the safety and security of the judiciary, court staff, the public, and persons in custody. There are local sheriffs for every county in Nova Scotia, numbering over 200 in total. They work with up to 20,000 inmates and travel over 2 million kilometers in a year. Sheriffs are responsible for: court security; the transportation of prisoners to and from institutions and all levels of court; the service of some civil and criminal documents; and the execution of court orders.

Iceland

In Iceland, sheriffs (or magistrates) (Icelandic: sýslumaður (singular), sýslumenn (plural)) are administrators of the state, holders of the executive power in their jurisdiction and heads of their Sheriff's Office. Sheriffs are in charge of certain legal matters that typically involve registration of some sort and executing the orders of the court. The duties of the sheriffs differ slightly depending on their jurisdiction but they can be broadly categorised as:

• Duties of all sheriffs: marital matters (such as general registration of marital status and performing civil marriages), statutory matters, inheritance matters and more.

• Duties of all sheriffs except in Reykjavík: collection of public fees, publication of licences and permits for various personal and business purposes and more.

• Special duties of some sheriffs: in some jurisdictions the sheriff is also the commissioner of police.

There are 24 sheriffs and sheriff jurisdictions in Iceland. The jurisdictions are not defined by the administrative divisions of Iceland but are mainly a mixture of counties and municipalities.

The post of sheriff was mandated by the Old Covenant, an agreement between the Icelandic Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Norway. The agreement which was ratified between 1262 and 1264 makes the post of sheriff the oldest secular position of government still operating in Iceland.

India

Among cities in India, only Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta) and Chennai (Madras), the three former British Presidencies, have a sheriff. The sheriff has an apolitical, non-executive role. Sheriffs preside over various city-related functions and conferences and welcome foreign guests. The post is second to the mayor in the protocol list

United States of America

In the United States of America, the scope of a sheriff varies across states and counties (which in Louisiana are called "parishes"). The sheriff is most often an elected county official, and serves as the arm of the county or parish court; but some cities, such as those in the Commonwealth of Virginia, also have a sheriff's office that serves as the arm of the city court and jail. The sheriff performs court duties. These may include such functions as administering the county or city jail, providing courtroom security and prisoner transportation, serving warrants and serving process. In urban areas, a sheriff may be restricted to those duties. Many other sheriffs and their deputies may serve as the principal police force and have jurisdiction over the entire county even in urban areas where there are police departments.

References