The Role and Duties of the Sheriff in the Criminal Justice Field By Kenneth Echie At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The job of the Sheriff is going to vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and from state to state. In many cases, he and his deputies are the police force for a county. They aid and assist with the different units within a county.

In some cases, they are also the primary law enforcement for smaller portions of the county. This is due to the economy of the community or the actual size of the community.
Not all communities in a county can afford to have their own police department.

Primarily the Sheriff in many cases has the duty of being the law enforcement for the county that they represent. They have duties such as being the police force for the courthouse of the county as well as handling the duties of running a county jail if one exists.

They are also responsible for overseeing transporting of prisoners as well as enforcing traffic laws on county highways if they fall in the proper jurisdiction. There are some specific things in regards to most County Sheriff departments.

In many cases, the Sheriffs are elected official. That means that he or she is responsible to the people as they are holding a public office. So not only do they have the job of enforcing the law, but they are also responsible for keeping the people in their county or jurisdiction happy with the job that they are doing. In many cases, the mayor of the city or the city council appoints the police chief, whereas the Sheriffs are public representatives.

He or she is still responsible for upholding all aspects of the law. They are not simply a public figure who is allowed to carry a gun and a badge. They are representatives who enforce the law as well as practice it.

They are responsible for the safety of the communities that they represent as well as making sure that certain things occur in their jurisdictions, such as carrying out court orders for the areas that they preside over. In some instances, they are to make sure that community service is complete as well as enforcing sentencing to varying degrees of people who have been convicted of various crimes.

They are not only responsible for the transporting of prisoners and the execution of their sentences, but also in maintaining the local prison where these sentences are sometimes served or where prisoners are housed awaiting trial. This is just one of the many hats that the Sheriff and the office that it runs have to wear.

So, he or she is a lawmaker, representative and landlord all rolled into one. They maintain the peace in the community that they represent by being elected and maintaining the trust of the people that elect them.

They also have the responsibility of keeping the prison and the prisoners housed in the prison in check. Law and order is absolute must in prison or things could get out of hand.

As you can see above, the sheriff has lots of duties and role to play in the criminal justice fields. To put it mildly, it is lots of responsibility for one little title, which many people do not think about.

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