What Does a Sheriff's Department Do?

A sheriff’s department is the location in which the Sheriff is housed, and all of the officials who work under the Sheriff. The services that are provided by the sheriff’s office greatly vary from state to state.

In some states in the United States the Sheriff’s department is one of the primary sources of law enforcement. In other states, it is merely a fixture that is used to serve legal documents to individuals within a specific district. And in a couple states a Sheriff and Sheriff’s department simply do not exist.

For states in which a Sheriff’s department is the primary avenue of law enforcement, the Sheriff’s department is the location in which individuals can be processed and detained. Furthermore, the Sheriff’s department can also help organize county clean ups, watch group details, and various other organizational necessities in order to keep the county safe, and help the overall community.

In locations where a Sheriff’s office is not utilized as the main law enforcement agency, this is where individuals would come if they were being served legal papers like evictions notices or divorce papers. This is because the Sheriff’s department is considered an extension of the county court; legal issues that are processed under this jurisdiction go straight to the Sheriff’s department.

The reason that these Sheriff departments do not have as much law enforcement issues tasked to them, other than traffic detail is because the states that these departments reside in often have State troopers to do the higher end law enforcement work.

NEXT: What is a County Sheriff?