Sheriff????

[Hockey9019]

I know ANYONE can run for Sheriff in a county. I know there are really no requirements (experience wise) in most if not all places.


If someone, somehow, gets elected Sheriff because the public is so blind and stupid, as they seem to be, and has no real clue on what police work is, once that person becomes Sheriff, do they have to get certified or go through any type of academy? Or are they now, a LEO?


Lets say the Sheriff has no clue, and then goes out and wants to do some Road Patrol time....then what? Can they?

[txinvestigator1]

I know ANYONE can run for Sheriff in a county. I know there are really no requirements (experience wise) in most if not all places.


If someone, somehow, gets elected Sheriff because the public is so blind and stupid, as they seem to be, and has no real clue on what police work is, once that person becomes Sheriff, do they have to get certified or go through any type of academy? Or are they now, a LEO?


Lets say the Sheriff has no clue, and then goes out and wants to do some Road Patrol time....then what? Can they?

You must be writing about the current Sheriff of Dallas County, Lupe Valdez, the lesbian LEO.. (She and her campaign always make an issue of her lesbianism, so I figure I can too)

She never ran a LEO organization, came from a federal agency :eek: and failed the state licensing test twice before barely passing it.

Google her under news for all the laughs.

[JakeLock]

Here they have to go throught the Academy and then a specialized Sheriff School. I don't know the particulars tho.

[cntryboy0531]

In Florida, anyone can run for Sheriff, and you do not have to be a Certified LEO to be the Sheriff. Once you are elected into office as the Sheriff, the state constitution gives you Arrest authority and the authority to carry a weapon.

The former Sheriff of Broward County Florida, was never a LEO, never certified by the state, and was the Sheriff for several terms. Prior to him being thrown in Federal Prison on corruption related crimes...

The sheriff can work the road. Our's will do traffic stops, and issue citations.

[Piggy]

Last I knew in Indiana, anyone could run and you would have full LE powers once you got into office.

With all the idiots elected to Congress, I guess a Sheriff's lack of abilities won't matter too much.

[Kimble]

In AL, most sheriffs come from the deputy ranks, but there's nothing in the state statute that requires it. All that is required is the majority of votes in the county.

And sadly, we recently had a felon as a sheriff in one county. Funny thing was, he wasn't allowed under federal law to carry a firearm due to his felony conviction. :p

[ispcapt]

In IL anyone who can win the election can be sheriff. Once elected then there's a special 'sheriff school' but they don't have to go to the full academy.
Some of the sheriffs I've worked with have been farmers, truck drivers, preacher, and 1 was a commercial fisherman who couldn't spell "sheriff". True. Barely had enough education to write his own name. And before anyone pops up with "life experience is more important than education" I can assure you that in this boy's situation his life experience wasn't all that helpful either. He was sort of the town idiot but became the county idiot when he was elected sheriff. The worst screw up that I knew he did was when an unidentified kid was killed on the Mississippi River in what was initially thought to be a boating accident. Estimated the body had been in the water close to a day. He loaded the body in his Jeep Cherokee and took it to the county funeral home which doubled as the morgue. Since the county hadn't paid the funeral home for past services the funeral director refused to accept the body. Not knowing what to do with the body the sheriff takes it to the volunteer fire station and dumps it off there. This is August and no AC in the building. Just a cinder block building. The next evening, over 24 hrs later, one of the volunteer firemen goes to the station to pick up something and finds the body, now 2 days dead and laying in the non-AC block building. The fire chief throws a fit and demands the body be removed. The sheriff loads the body in his Jeep and takes it home where it stays overnight in his Jeep. Next day we get word who the kid might be and that it's no boating accident but a possible homicide where the kid was intentionally run over by a jet ski by the husband of a woman the kid tried to "do". Now the sheriff decides the body probably should have an autopsy performed at this point. He drives the body nearly 90 miles to the pathologist and then calls us to handle the possible homicide. Yup, village idiot.

[explcdt8]

In my state all Sheriff's must be certifiable, and attend an academy with in a time of being elected.

However, I know of one sheriff from the eighties who kept a skull from a murder scene for a week, then tried to mail it USPS when the medical examiner said 'send it to me.'

[Hockey9019]

In IL anyone who can win the election can be sheriff. Once elected then there's a special 'sheriff school' but they don't have to go to the full academy.
Some of the sheriffs I've worked with have been farmers, truck drivers, preacher, and 1 was a commercial fisherman who couldn't spell "sheriff". True. Barely had enough education to write his own name. And before anyone pops up with "life experience is more important than education" I can assure you that in this boy's situation his life experience wasn't all that helpful either. He was sort of the town idiot but became the county idiot when he was elected sheriff. The worst screw up that I knew he did was when an unidentified kid was killed on the Mississippi River in what was initially thought to be a boating accident. Estimated the body had been in the water close to a day. He loaded the body in his Jeep Cherokee and took it to the county funeral home which doubled as the morgue. Since the county hadn't paid the funeral home for past services the funeral director refused to accept the body. Not knowing what to do with the body the sheriff takes it to the volunteer fire station and dumps it off there. This is August and no AC in the building. Just a cinder block building. The next evening, over 24 hrs later, one of the volunteer firemen goes to the station to pick up something and finds the body, now 2 days dead and laying in the non-AC block building. The fire chief throws a fit and demands the body be removed. The sheriff loads the body in his Jeep and takes it home where it stays overnight in his Jeep. Next day we get word who the kid might be and that it's no boating accident but a possible homicide where the kid was intentionally run over by a jet ski by the husband of a woman the kid tried to "do". Now the sheriff decides the body probably should have an autopsy performed at this point. He drives the body nearly 90 miles to the pathologist and then calls us to handle the possible homicide. Yup, village idiot.

Wow...

Just wow...

I don't have anything to say to that one...

[SnapShawt]

Here in Texas, a person elected as sheriff who is not certified has 2 years to become certified. At least I think it's 2 years, I'm feeling too lazy to look it up right now.

[deputywave]

Last I knew in Indiana, anyone could run and you would have full LE powers once you got into office.

True. They do have a two week(I think) school for new Sheriffs. That is the only training required.

[ispcapt]

Wow...

Just wow...

I don't have anything to say to that one...

Try running the homicide investigation after he messed it up. There was a lot of things I wanted to say to him and the media but couldn't.

[sgtbear111]

"goat frolic" comes to mind for describing that kind of police work.

[Creeker]

In recent history, we had a local Magistrate run for Sheriff and win 2 or 3 terms. He was a convicted felon from 20 years prior. He hired a few Deputies of which no Background Investigation had ever been done, one of whom I know for a fact, couldn't read and had victims fill out their own reports.

At some point 4 or 5 years later, when somebody discovered that this Deputy had never been to any Academy, they discovered that he was an Escapee from within 50 miles of where he was working... had walked away from a road gang, claimed he stepped into the bushes to use the facilities and the gang left him there, so he went home.

He got canned and the Felon Sheriff went in the next election, too.

About 1988, the state passed requirement laws for Sheriff's, of which I do not remember what they are at the present time, but they can no longer be felons.

[Lawson]

As far as I know, in Washington, if you are elected sheriff you are granted full LEO powers, no schools or academies required.