Office of Sheriff - Survival and Growth

• NCJ Number: 80100
• Journal: Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1981) Pages: 272-279
• Author(s): S L Swart
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This article is a revision of one presented in a session entitled, 'Organization and Management in Criminal Justice 2,' on March 14, 1980, at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences convention in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Annotation

This article argues for viewing the office of county sheriff as a viable and important criminal justice agency whose role must be examined on the merits of its historical and geographic tenacity throughout the country over this century.

Abstract

A literature review cites an early study of police administration which failed to mention the word 'sheriff' and proposed a State-level rural constabulary instead. Recent scholarly proposals are similarly critiqued for slighting the office or arguing for its elimination. The review focuses on the works of Bruce Smith, the one author who has analyzed the institution in detail. Sheriffs as they exist today are described, with attention to national trends that have affected their authority. Among these are special circumstances in New England, the growth of State highway patrol responsibilities; the expansion of State corrections departments into local detention and incarceration; and the concentration of legal, financial, and technological resources in the hands of State and Federal agencies. Nevertheless, sheriffs continue to exist today in 49 States and exercise considerable criminal justice authority. To explore the survival of this institution, a case study of the Jacksonville, Fla., sheriff's office is presented. Here the traditional elective sheriff exists as the chief law enforcement and correctional authority in a consolidated city-county government serving a major urban center. Survival and growth of the office of sheriff is predicted because it offers advantages of accountability as an elective office and because it represents unified management by functioning in both law enforcement and corrections. It is contended that a general adaptability of the office has been evidenced -- sheriffs are more frequently professional law enforcement officers who rise to changing circumstances and needs such as urbanization. The type of sheriff is changing, but the sheriff as a viable political institution continues to serve the needs of the community. Footnotes and 44 references are given.