History of the Sheriff
The Office of the Sheriff has existed for over one thousand (1000) years and is the oldest law enforcement position in the United States. The word Sheriff is derived from the Shire-reeve, who was the most powerful English law authority figure, even before 1000 A.D. The Shire-reeve, in contrast to a reeve (in charge of mere tenths), was responsible for both the order of the land within his banded group of a hundred families (shire) and the call of the “hue and cry”. The hue and cry made every citizen in earshot of the sheriff’s call lawfully obligated to join in a posse-commitatas, or group, which banded to catch criminals.
In 1776 Pennsylvania and New Jersey adopted the Office of Sheriff in their Constitution. The Ohio Constitution called for the election of the county sheriff in 1802, and then state-by-state, the democratic election of sheriff became not only a tradition, but in most states, a constitutional requirement.
In the United States today, of the 3083 sheriffs, approximately 98 percent are elected by the citizens of their counties or parishes. The preservation of the Office of Sheriff is vital in our republic. Outside a few elected town marshals, the Sheriff is the only head of a law enforcement agency in this nation that is accountable directly to the people of his /her jurisdiction. In 2010, the National Sheriffs’ Association passed resolution 2010-1 that succinctly presents the reasons why the Sheriff needs to be maintained as an elected office as it has since the early history of our country.