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Definition of
Office of Sheriff
What is the Difference Between
a Sheriff's Department and a Sheriff's Office and Why Should it Matter?
DEPARTMENT: "One of the major
divisions of the executive branch of the government...generally, a branch or
division of governmental administration."
OFFICE: "A right, and
correspondent duty, to exercise public trust as an office. A public
charge of employment...the most frequent occasions to use the word arise
with reference to a duty and power conferred on an individual by the
government and when this is the connection, public office is a usual and
more discriminating expression...in the constitutional sense, the term
implies an authority to exercise some portion of the sovereign power either
in making, executing, or administering the laws."
The Office of Sheriff is not simply
another "department" of county government. The internal operation of
an Office of Sheriff is the sole responsibility of the elected Sheriff
County department heads are subordinate to a county governing body, because
a "department" is truly only a division of county government. The
Office of Sheriff is a statutory/constitutional office having exclusive
powers and authority under state law and/or state constitution. These
inherent powers are not subject to the dictates of a local county governing
body.
The Office of Sheriff has inherent
common law powers and sovereignty granted under a state's constitution
and/or state law. it is different from a county department which
derives its limited authority from whatever is delegated to is by statute or
by state constitution.
The use of the term "Department"
implies being a subordinate unity of government (i.e. subordinate to local
government - "delegated" authority from county government to a Department".
The use of the term "Office" implies inherent powers and independent
sovereignty.
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