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The office of sheriff is the
oldest law enforcement office known within the common-law system it is one of
antiquity. The office has always been accorded great dignity with a high level of
trust. Although no exact genius exists that constitutes the exact beginnings of the
office some evidence is available to prove that the office began as early as the ninth
century.
Large groups of free men, who held no land, group themselves into tithing and
consisted of ten families. The groups would then elect one of their own to act as
chief or tithing men. The chief or tithing man was held responsible to give alarm (hue
or cry) when a suspect or an escaped criminal was at large.
Tithings were further consolidated into larger organizations called, hundreds, and
these groups were directed into electing a chief. The consolidation led to an
extension of this system, by combining the hundreds and resulted in the “Shire”, who
was the leader and was also known as the “Shire-reeve”. The pronunciation o these two
words as one, gradually developed into the modern word “Sheriff”.
As representative of the king, the Shire-reeve or sheriff was the supreme judicial and
police authority within the Parish, the top official of the Shire or Parish. The
appropriate duties were keeper of the king’s peace, ministerial officer of the
superior courts and king’s bailiff. During the thirteenth century the Shire-reeve,
with appointed officers, were given the duty to collect the king’s revenue and
preserve the king’s peace. This added another job of the Sheriff, which affects a
considerable number of sheriff’s in America today.
Power and authority vested in the office accounted for the high status and noble
dignity accorded to the sheriff. The high rank established at this point in history
has continued throughout the years. The sheriff is still the supreme law enforcement
officer of the Parish.
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