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sheriff, a senior executive officer in an English county or smaller area who performs a variety of administrative and judicial functions. Officers of this name also exist in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the United States.
In England the office of sheriff existed before the Norman Conquest (1066). The separation of the ecclesiastical from the secular courts under William I the Conqueror left the sheriff supreme in the county and as president of its court. He convened and led military forces of the shire, executed all writs, and, for the first century after the Conquest, judged both criminal and civil cases. From the time of Henry II (reigned 1154–89), however, his jurisdiction was severely restricted as a result of the growing jurisdiction of the curia regis (“king’s court”). His duty thereafter was to investigate allegations of crime from within his shire, to conduct a preliminary examination of the accused, to try lesser offenses, and to detain those accused of major crimes for the itinerant justices.
The new offices of coroner (first mentioned in 1194), of local constable (first mentioned in 1242), and of justices of the peace (first known in the 12th century as custodes pacis, “keepers of the peace”) all took work and duties from the sheriffs. After the Tudor reorganization of local government in the 15th and 16th centuries, the office was largely ceremonial. English law was consolidated in the Sheriffs Act of 1877, however, under which sheriffs in all parts of England were assigned a unified set of duties. Sheriffs now attend at election petitions and are responsible for the execution of writs; they are liable for the safe custody of prisoners, and they act as returning officer at parliamentary elections. Until the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act of 1965, the sheriffs were also responsible for the execution of sentences of death.
In Scotland the sheriff, as a ministerial and judicial officer, appears in records from the 12th century, and, despite the later introduction of the office of justice of the peace, the sheriff has retained considerable powers. Sheriffs principal and sheriffs for the six sheriffdoms are appointed and removed by the crown on recommendation of the secretary of state for Scotland. The original jurisdiction of the Sheriff Court is exercised largely by sheriffs. In certain civil matters, appeal lies to the sheriff principal and through him to the Court of Session. The civil jurisdiction of the Sheriff Court extends to nearly all actions. Only grave crimes are excepted from the criminal jurisdiction of the Sheriff Court, these being tried by the High Court of Justiciary.
In Northern Ireland the sheriff and salaried undersheriff for a county are appointed by the governor. Their duties, similar to those in England, are set in the Sheriffs (Ireland) Act of 1920.
In the United States, the sheriff is ordinarily an elected public officer in his county, the chief executive officer, and an officer of the court, with a term usually of from two to four years. The deputy is appointed by the sheriff and is delegated duties. The sheriff and deputy are peace officers and thus have the power of police officers in the enforcement of criminal law. They may also assume some of the functions of the local police department and are empowered to call out the posse comitatus (“the force of the county,” a summoning of private citizens to assist in maintaining peace). The sheriff’s main judicial duties are the service and return of process and the execution of writs, particularly judgments by sale or distress. Although the sheriff is usually a salaried official, he is sometimes paid from fees, which, in populous counties, can be lucrative.
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