Deputy sheriff

“ Here it is only an appointed deputy sheriff that is removed from office, but if this new contempt enforcement power is legal I can think of no reason why it cannot be used against more important state officials whether elected or appointed. ”

“ Sometimes in the country, sheriffs have had much difficulty to procure an executioner. In short, although, in the eyes of the people generally, a stigma attaches to the hangman, yet, in fact, the hangman is the sheriff’s immediate deputy in criminal matters, as his under-sheriff is for civil purposes. The nature and dignity of the office in some particulars, and the rank of the officer, called Squire Ketch, will be found to be supportable, as well as the fee of office. ”

“ But we ain't got the right holt," the old miner continued, squinting his eyes as if thus endeavoring to get the thought firmly lodged in his brain. "He 's ben made a deputy sheriff. He kin turn that crowd o' toughs over thar into a posse, an' come over here with the whole law o' the State backin' them in any deviltry they decide on, even ter killin' off the lot o' us for resistin' officers. ”

“ If the prisoner fails to make good or tries to run away, the farmer notifies the sheriff promptly, who sends a deputy sheriff after him. The reports from Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware and Wisconsin, where this plan prevails, show very few escapes. No guard is necessary, as the farmer looks after the prisoners, and thus the overhead charges are done away with. ”

“ Order must be preserved and the dignity of the Court maintained.”
There was a stir—half of horror—throughout the court-room. Put a man in that jail just for being tight!
Then the Sheriff on one side and his deputy on the other, led the culprit out, now sufficiently quiet and half whimpering. A considerable portion of the crowd followed him.
Outside, the prisoner was sober enough, and he begged hard to be let off and allowed to go home. His friends, too, joined in his petition and promised to guarantee that he would not come back again during the term of court. But the Sheriff was firm. ”

“ Me and Dirty jerks our hands above our heads, and this fretful-looking hombre with the good-by forever mustache and weary eyes squints at us and says—
“You both solemnly swear to uphold the law vested in you as deputy sheriffs of Yaller Rock County, so help you Gawd?” ”

“ And Parker, speaking up, declared the Judge was right. "I ricollect the militia come down here once durin' the days of the carpet-baggers, and——"
"But let no one speak of the dispatch having been sent to the governor," said the Judge. "Billy, when the sheriff comes back you'd better tell him to appoint forthwith at least a hundred deputies." [Pg 258]
"In fact," the Major replied, "every law-abiding man in the county might be declared a deputy." ”

“ Next day Paul was sentenced to three years in the State Penitentiary and taken off—quite undramatically, not handcuffed, merely plodding in a tired way beside a cheerful deputy sheriff—and after saying good-by to him at the station Babbitt returned to his office to realize that he faced a world which, without Paul, was meaningless. ”

“ The sheriff could send his deputy, who served legal papers in the county, but the deputy had never seen the School-teacher and did not know him. And, besides this, if the School-teacher resisted, and those about him should come to his support, there might be considerable trouble to take him. One man conducting a prisoner through the mountains in the night might easily be compelled to release him. Moreover, the deputy, knowing the danger of making an arrest in the mountain districts, could not be got to go up alone. ”

“ You thinks just because you’re a sheriff you’re better than most folks. You didn’t grab any honors when you beat ‘Shep’ Allen for sheriff. He’s blind in one eye and string-halted in both legs. Just let me whisper something to you, Magpie: if you don’t grab some of these cow thieves——”
“Ike, you can desist. I’m doing all that a mortal man can do. If I had a deputy that was worth a cuss I’d——” ”

“ A feller gits kinda ’tached to a job like this, don’tcha know it? Yo’re prob’ly a better deputy than you’d ever be a sheriff. A feller has to have certain qualifications to be a sheriff, and it ain’t as easy as it looks. Buck was kinda sore at yuh, wasn’t he? ”

“ Malcomb McDowell, reporter for the Chicago Record, testified: “The United States deputy marshals and the special deputy sheriffs were sworn in by the hundreds about the 3d and 4th of July, and prior to that, too, and everybody who saw them knew they were not the class of men who ought to be made deputy marshals or deputy sheriffs.” * * * “In regard to most of the deputy marshals they seemed to be hunting trouble all the time.” * * * “At one time a serious row nearly resulted because some of the deputy marshals standing on the railroad track jeered at the women that passed and insulted them.” ”

“ It’s different with a sheriff. He’s the man who comes riding with his guns at his side; they can see him perform. All the law that they know centers in him; all branches of government, as they understand his powers. Yes, a sheriff is something of a figure in this county, Frances, and to be nominated for that office by one party and indorsed by another is just about the biggest compliment a man can receive. ”

“ The sheriff of a county is a very important officer. It is his duty to see that law and order are preserved within the limits of his county, that the penalties ordered by the judges are carried out, and to suppress all riots and uprisings in his district. ”

“ He has thus retained intact his judicial functions, to which 368such nominal administrative duties as still remain to him are entirely subordinate. In the United States of America, on the contrary, the sheriff is a purely executive official, possessing perhaps more real power, but notably less honour and social distinction than fall to the lot of the English high sheriff. The duties of his office are sometimes performed by him in person; he may even set out at the head of the posse comitatus in pursuit of criminals. ”

“ We may farther observe, that by statute 1 Ric. II. c. 11. no man, that has served the office of sheriff for one year, can be compelled to serve the same again within three years after.
We shall find it is of the utmost importance to have the sheriff appointed according to law, when we consider his power and duty. These are either as a judge, as the keeper of the king's peace, as a ministerial officer of the superior courts of justice, or as the king's bailiff. ”

“ The salary or allowance for sheriffs is not the same in all counties, but varies according to the number of the population. It is paid by the Board of Supervisors. (For Board of Supervisors, see page 82.)
The sheriff may appoint deputies or assistants to help him in his duties, which are numerous and important. He is the principal executive officer of the county. It is his business to execute the judgments of the courts. If a person is sentenced to death, it is the sheriff who must make and direct the arrangements for carrying out the sentence. ”

“ Lively!” He rapidly designated ten men of his crew. “You boys get to work and make things hum. Get as much done as you can before the sheriff comes.”
“He'll have to bring all of Spruce County to get me,” commented one of those chosen, spitting on his hands.
“Me, too!” said others.
“Now, listen,” said Orde, holding them with an impressive gesture. “When that sheriff comes, with or without a posse, I want you to go peaceably. Understand?” ”

“ Out in my State of Illinois there was a man nominated for sheriff of the county. He was a good man for the office, brave, determined and honest, but not much of an orator. In fact, he couldn't talk at all; he couldn't make a speech to save his life. ”

“ What a pitfall for the foreign student of our institutions lies in the fact of a sheriff being an honorary dignitary in an English county, an elected constable in an American one, but a paid and permanent judge north of the Tweed! The shire reeves here were in feudal times hereditary lieutenants of the Crown, who, as the baron handed over judicial authority to his clerkly bailie, appointed legal representatives, still entitled Sheriffs Depute, also known as Sheriffs Principal, as they have come to be. ”

“ In Scotland the sheriff, or sheriff-depute as he is called, is the chief judge of the county, and has under him one or more sheriffs-substitute, upon whom devolves the larger portion of the important and multifarious duties of his office. ”

“ He took a lively interest in a dame's school in the town, paying it a visit of inspection every week, and making minute inquiries into the behaviour of the children, and reproving delinquents with ‘Od's bud, Od's bud, but I will mend you.’ Though his rank in the county was but that of a squire who worked like a yeoman on his land, and lived on intimate terms with his labourers, he was chosen sheriff in 1683. ”

“ This is the sheriff’s posse!”
“I hear you say it.”
“I am the sheriff of Socorro County,” said another voice, “and I summon you to surrender.”
“I am a Bar Cross man in a Bar Cross [Pg 52] house,” repeated Johnny. “If you’re the sheriff, walk in that door on your hind legs, with your hands up, and let us have a look at you.”
“That’s Johnny Dines talking!” said a third voice. “Hello, Dines! This is me, Bill Fewell! Say, this is the sheriff and his posse all right! Don’t you get in wrong.”
“One man may unbuckle his belt and back in at that door, hands up. ”

“ The Legislature undertook to meet this difficulty by creating officials, called State Constables, to be appointed by the Governor and to enforce the liquor laws and the laws regulating child labor. But that did not wholly cure the evil. The officials appointed solely to enforce a law against which there are strong objections in any quarter are always themselves unpopular. The Sheriffs have been from the beginning officials of great dignity, commanding popular respect and confidence. So if it were difficult to enforce the law the character of the Sheriff was a great force on its side. ”

“ Sheriff? Things have got to a nice pass when that can be."
"Listen!" thundered the sheriff, turning squarely on the astonished lawyer, and shaking his finger under his long nose; "you lied to me about all that valuable paper business. It was you that wanted to steal something you believed this lad carried about his person, a paper that would tell you where to find that hidden silver mine! And I was fool enough to believe you, and to be hoodwinked that way. A sheriff is sworn to do his duty only so long as he believes he is doing right; he has no claim to persecute an innocent party. ”

“ The old sheriffs are judges of these elections, and declare by the common serjeant who are duly chosen. The sheriffs thus elected take the usual oaths in this court on Michaelmas eve, and the day after Michaelmas day are presented to the Barons of the Exchequer, where they take the oath of office, the oaths of allegiance, &c. The chamberlains and bridge-masters are sworn in the court of aldermen.
Where a Lord Mayor elect refuses to serve, he is liable to be fined; and if a person chosen sheriff refuses to serve, he is fined £413 6s. ”

“ In both countries the sheriffdom occasionally became hereditary, until a statute of Edward the Third fixed a year [257] as the limit of the English Sheriff’s tenure of office. Permanency, and a certain degree of greater dignity, seem still to have attached to the Vicecomes in Scotland, where the equivalent of the lord-lieutenant of an English county is known at the present day as “lieutenant and sheriff of the shire,” the acting official being the sheriff-depute, the tenure of whose office is equally permanent. ”

“ At this time rose a contention between the mayor, citizens, commonalty and sheriffs, about choosing their officers, but it was agreed, that for the future the sheriffs should choose such as they would answer for, to be under-sheriff, clerks, and bailiffs, and the mayor, aldermen, and common council, should for the future choose yearly a discreet lawyer, into the office of steward of the court of the sheriffs of the city, and for his service in the court, such steward shall receive of the sheriffs 40s. ”

“ Much deference has to be paid to the Judges of Assize, and many points of old-world courtesy and etiquette have to be observed, which add to the interest attaching to the office; and there [Pg 160] can be little doubt that the sheriff's turn-out—a coach-and-four, with trumpeters and javelin men in their handsome liveries of dark blue and old gold—serves to impart dignity to the administration of the law, and to impress the multitude with its majesty and power. ”

“ But the county shall never be made responsible for the acts of the sheriff. The governor may remove any officer in this section mentioned, within the term for which he shall have been elected; giving to such officer a copy of the charges against him, and an opportunity of being heard in his defense. ”

“ What the motive of the crime may have been we do not worry ourselves to inquire; a crime, an outrage upon justice and order, has been committed; that is all we care to know. If anything fresh happens in this connection we propose to issue a second edition of this paper. Our fellow-citizens may rely upon our energy and watchfulness to keep them posted.
“Just before going to press we learn that Sheriff Johnson was out of town attending to business when Judge Shannon called; but Sub-Sheriff Jarvis informs us that he expects the Sheriff back shortly. ”

“ The order lays down with somewhat grim humour that the sheriff is not limited to the allowances, but may spend more if he likes. A sheriff cannot during his year of office act as a magistrate for the county of which he is sheriff. ”