Sheriff Offers History Lesson, Defines Position

In his monthly address to the citizens of Pinal County, Sheriff Roger Vanderpool provides an historical perspective of the role of the sheriff and defines the responsibility of the position today.

Sheriff Vanderpool, in his own words:

“Be bold in what you stand for and careful what you fall for.”
Ruth Boorstin

To the Citizens of Pinal County:

Do you know the difference between the Sheriffs Office and the Police Department? If you are like most people you don’t, you tend to associate both with law enforcement and that’s the end of it. What I would like to do this month is tell you about the difference, and give you a little history on the office of Sheriff in both the United States, Arizona, and Pinal County. When anyone mentions the word Sheriff, the first thing that comes to his or her mind is the western frontier Sheriff, who was crucial in settling our western frontier. But people are amazed as they learn that the history of the office of Sheriff reaches far back into the Middle Ages for well over a thousand years.

The office of the Sheriff is one of antiquity. It is the oldest law enforcement office known within the common-law system and it has always been accorded great dignity and high trust. The office of Sheriff dates back at least to the reign of Alfred the Great of England, and some scholars even argue that the office of Sheriff was first created during the Roman occupation of England.

Around 500 A.D. Germanic tribes from Europe began an invasion of Celtic England, which eventually led over the centuries to the consolidation of Anglo-Saxon England as a unified kingdom under Alfred the Great late in the 9th century. Alfred divided England into geographic units call “shires” or counties. In 1066, William the Conquer defeated the Anglo-Saxons and instituted his own Norman government. The king of England appointed a representative called a “reeve” or King’s representative in each shire or county. The “shire-reeve”, or King’s representative became the “Sheriff” as the English language changed over the years. The “shire-reeve” was the chief law enforcement officer in the county in the year 1000 A.D.

The history of our American Sheriff began in 1634 when the settlements of Virginia were established to allow for replacement of the military regime by a civil government. The scattered settlements and plantations had been formed into shires as in the English pattern, and the most important aspect of the American Sheriff was his responsibility for keeping the peace. Today the sheriff is firmly entrenched in the constitution of the various states.

In Arizona, Article three of the Arizona Constitution creates the offices of the counties, the first office listed is Sheriff.

In American history, the frontier was the western most area of settlement at any given time during the westward expansion of the nation. It began in Jamestown in 1607 and the line kept moving west. The early settlements of the west were small and isolated and usually exhibited a reasonable amount of peace and order. Violence existed more as a by-product of the year and environment rather than a demonstration of true and total lawlessness.

The office of Sheriff spread from community to community throughout settled areas west of the Mississippi. In 1836, the adaptation of a constitution for the newly created Republic of Texas formally required the office of Sheriff, other areas of the west also adopted similar requirements in their constitutions. We have already learned that article three of the Arizona constitution requires the office of Sheriff.

As the Chief Law Enforcement officer of the county, the Sheriff performed diverse duties. In many jurisdictions he served as tax collector, similar to the duties of the colonial sheriff. Pinal County’s first Sheriff, Michael Rogers was alleged to have taken the tax money and fled to New Mexico at the end of his first year in office. He later returned and was acquitted of all charges against him.

In contrast to his colonial forerunner, the western sheriff had to administer corporal punishment, as directed by the courts. The sheriff often times was required to carry out the sentence of death. Rustic executions were performed primarily by hanging an offender. Other duties of the office, collateral to the crime fighting duties, were rather mundane and involved the service of process or other civil enforcement functions. Some counties prescribed duties like inspecting cattle, fighting fires, or eradicating prairie dogs.

Arizona Revised Statutes 11-441 A describes of the powers and duties of the Sheriff.

A. The Sheriff Shall

1. Preserve the peace

2. Arrest and take before the nearest magistrate for examination all persons who attempt to commit or will commit a public offense.

3. Prevent and suppress all affrays, breaches of the peace, riots and insurrections which may come to the attention of the sheriff

4. Attend all courts, except justice and police courts, when an element of danger is anticipated and attend as requested by the presiding judge, and obey lawful orders and direction issued by the judge.

5. Take charge of and keep the county jail, including a county jail under the jurisdiction of a county jail district and the prisoners therein.

6. Endorse upon all process and notices the year, month, day, hour and minute of reception and issue to the person delivering it, on payment or fees, a certificate showing the names of the parties, title of paper, and time of service.

7. Serve process and notices in the manner prescribed by law.

8. Secure, as soon as possible, the home of a deceased person located outside the boundaries of an incorporated town if the sheriff is unable to determine or locate the heirs or executor of the deceased person.

Since the time of the early reeves in England, when help was needed to apprehend a criminal, a hue and cry could be made to enlist support with law enforcement efforts.

In American the Latin term “posse comitatus” was used to describe this volunteer effort, literally translated, posse comitatus means the Apower of the county@. The term would become shortened to just “posse”. The American posse would be employed to a great extent in the wild west of America, as a regular tool of the Sheriffs.

Section B of A.R.S. 11-441 states

The Sheriff may in the execution of the duties prescribed in subsection A, paragraphs 1 though 4 command the assistance of as many inhabitants of the county as the sheriff deems necessary.

Section D of A.R.S. 11-441 states

The Sheriff may in the execution of the duties prescribed in this section request the aid of volunteer posse and reserve organizations located in the county.

The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office is very proud of the nearly 100 men and women who volunteer their time, energy, and resources to assist me and my deputies in carrying out our duties. Without their help we would be stretched even thinner than we are. We are also very proud of the Florence and Western Pinal County Posses and all the assistance they render to us and their communities. Any one interested in joining the posse can call Posse Coordinator Chuck Higgins at 520-866-5133.

Section C of A.R.S. 11-411 states

The Sheriff shall conduct or coordinate within the county search and rescue operations involving the life of any person, or may assist in such operations in another county at the request of that county’s sheriff, and request the assistance from any persons or agencies in the fulfillment of the duties under this section.

The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office is very proud of our search and rescue units serving Pinal County, both the Superstition and Sonoran Search and Rescue units are fantastic! They are highly trained and motivated individuals who have saved the lives of hundreds of citizens lost and/or injured in Pinal County and other areas of the state and even Mexico.

The wild west produce tales of many famous Sheriffs, some factual and many fabricated. Perhaps the most famous Pinal County Sheriff was Sheriff James McGee, Sheriff McGee was one of the original Arizona Rangers, a group of men formed in the fashion of the Texas Rangers to do battle with the lawless elements running amuck in the early history of Arizona. Sheriff McGee is buried in the Florence cemetery. His memory, and the creed of the Arizona Rangers lives on with the present day Rangers, a group formed to assist law enforcement and keep the history of the original Rangers alive.

The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office provides law enforcement services to the vast 5370 square miles of Pinal County. Pinal County is larger than the states of Rhode Island, Delaware and Connecticut. We provide these services with a sworn force of 154 deputies, this includes patrol deputies, detectives, range and civil deputies and the command staff. We are stretched pretty darn thin given the tremendous growth of Pinal County. We also oversee a jail of 472 beds that has a inmate population of nearly 700 inmates.

As an elected official, the Sheriff often times is more subject to popular will than an appointed police chief. Along those lines, from a professional police management perspective, the elected nature of the Sheriff’s Office has presented problems indigenous to its own perspective. For instance; sheriffs with no law enforcement service or training have been elected to the position, sheriffs lacking skill have defeated sheriffs with greater skill by virtue of political popularity! There have been no statutory experience or educational requirements placed on one seeking the job, and survival in office has sometimes, in the past, required political compromise at the expense of professional commitment.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of the office of Sheriff and the history of the office with a little local flavor thrown in for good measure. Till next month, be careful and may God bless you all and continue to bless our great country.

Roger L. Vanderpool
Sheriff, Pinal County