The Office of Sheriff

The Office of Sheriff

The office of Sheriff was first established in 1066AD by the Normans. The word "Sheriff" was derived from "Shire" (the equivalent of today's County) and "Rieve" (chief law enforcer). Thus, the term "Shire Rieve" was eventually shortened to simply "Sheriff". At the same time the title of Constable was also created and this was the position of keeper of the Rieve's stable of horses. Sheriff and Constable were the first two titles for police officers in America, and each owe their origins to English ancestry.

Thomas Jefferson, in his work called "The Value of Constitutions," wrote, "...the office of Sheriff is the most important of all the executive offices of the country." After two hundred years, experience has proven that the perspective of Jefferson and other founding fathers is just as valid today as it was when they first perceived of how a free society could best be constructed.

The office of Sheriff is certainly significant, and was in fact the first county office established in the United States. Some very outstanding Americans have held the office of County Sheriff, from the earliest days down to our present era. George Washington's father was an early Sheriff in Colonial Virginia. The history of the position and functions of a Sheriff, prior to establishment of the position in America, can reportedly be traced to provisions of the Magna Carta in England, in the year 1215.

The Sheriffs of America have played a significant role in the history of our Nation, and the Sheriffs of Ohio are no exception to this heritage. A brief study of the history of Ohio reveals that Ohio Sheriffs have contributed greatly to the development of the Buckeye State.

Until Ohio achieved statehood in 1803, the position of Sheriff was filled through appointments made at the pleasure of the Colonial Governor. The first Sheriff on the record in Ohio was Colonel Ebenezer Sproat. At the time he was appointed in 1788, Colonel Sproat's jurisdiction covered all of Washington County. This enormous area of land included all of eastern Ohio from the Ohio River to Lake Erie.

After statehood became a reality, only three public offices in Ohio were filled through the electoral process system. The position of Sheriff was one of them. Through this new system, William Skinner became the first elected Sheriff in the Buckeye State. Since the early 1800's, Ohio Sheriffs have been elected on the county level by the people they serve. By virtue of this process, this office has become the oldest law enforcement position in the United States. It is also the only remaining law enforcement office which is filled through the election method. The term of office for County Sheriffs in Ohio is four years.

In each of the 88 counties of Ohio, the Sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer. His primary duties are to provide common pleas court services and corrections on a countywide basis, and full police protection to the unincorporated areas of the county. However, he also maintains full police jurisdiction in all municipalities, townships, and villages. In an effort to become consistent on a statewide level, Ohio Sheriffs and Deputies wear a standardized uniform, and all patrol vehicles are marked in the same manner.

There are several interesting tidbits of trivia about our Sheriffs. The first Sheriff in the state of Ohio was not elected, but was appointed in 1788. The first Hamilton County Sheriff we have record of was also appointed, in 1790 by Governor A. St. Clair and was John Brown (1790-1792). James Smith (1797-1804) was also titled Collector of the Government Revenue, while Morton L. Hawkins (1883-1884) served during the Court House riot and fire. Asa V. Butterfield (1931-1934) was a candidate on two tickets (Democrat and Independent) and Sheriff Dan P. Tehan (1949-1972) served the longest as Sheriff with a total of 24 years of service (he declined to run for a 7th term), followed by Sheriff Simon L. Leis, our current Sheriff since 1987, and the third longest, Sheriff Lincoln J. Stokes (1977-1987) with 10 years

Within Ohio, Sheriff's Offices have probably one of the most extensive sets of responsibilities to those they serve. By statute they must provide the following:

Line Law Enforcement
Court Security and Service of Papers
Jail Operations
Extradition Process
Transportation of Prisoners

Ohio's 88 counties each have a Sheriff's Office and these vary in size from a dozen deputies to over 600 deputies. Hamilton County is one of the largest, along with Cuyahoga, Franklin, and Montgomery Counties.

Since the appointment of John Brown in 1790, 57 men have served as Shire Rieve of Hamilton County. They are as follows:

HAMILTON COUNTY SHERIFFS
1790-PRESENT

1987-Present Simon L. Leis, Jr.
1977-1987 Lincoln J. Stokes
1973-1976 Paul J. Fricker
1949-1972 Dan P. Tehan
1943-1948 C. Taylor Handman
1939-1942 Fred Sperber
1937-1938 George A. Lutz, Jr.
1935-1936 George A. Lutz, Sr.
1931-1934 Asa V. Butterfield
1927-1930 William Anderson
1923-1926 Richard B. Witt
1919-1922 Fred Bader
1915-1918 George F. Schott
1911-1914 Charles Cooper
1907-1910 Henry W. Hamann
1903-1906 Salmon Jones
1899-1902 Thomas A. Taylor
1897-1898 Chris Reichel
1893-1896 R.M. Archiabald
1891-1892 Val Heim
1887-1890 Leo Schott
1885-1886 Samuel Beresford
1883-1884 Morton L. Hawkins
1881-1882 Samuel Bailey
1879-1880 George Weber
1877-1888 William Pitt Wallace
1875-1876 Fred Springmeier
1873-1874 George W. Zeigler
1871-1872 Joseph E. Heart
1869-1870 Daniel Weber
1867-1868 Henry S. Schotman
1865-1866 Richard Calvin
1863-1864 William Long
1861-1862 John B. Armstrong
1859-1860 Henry Kessler
1857-1858 Richard Matthews
1855-1856 Gassaway Brashear
1853-1854 Benjamin Higdon
1851-1852 Charles W. Smith
1849-1850 Joseph Cooper
1847-1848 Thomas S. Weaver
1843-1846 John H. Gerard
1839-1842 John C. Avery
1836-1838 Samuel Fosdick
1831-1834 Ebenezer Hulse
1829-1830 John C. Avery
1823-1825 William Ruffin
1818-1822 Richard Ayres
1817-1817 William Ruffin
1816-1816 Daniel Hosbrook
1813-1814 John S. Wallace
1811-1812 Joseph Jenkinson
1806-1810 Aaron Goforth
1805-1806 William McFarland
1797-1804 James Smith
1795-1796 Daniel Symmes
1793-1794 John Ludlow
1790-1792 John Brown
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