On Nov. 4, you may be asked to consider candidates who want to be sheriff in your county. Here’s what you need to know
Hanna Holthaus of Spotlight PA
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Ads for this year’s municipal election in Pennsylvania are intensely focused on the state Supreme Court, but voters will also weigh in on a more local role in the legal system: county sheriffs.
Generally, sheriff’s offices oversee courtroom safety, jail operations, and certain arrest warrants. On an individual level, each county sheriff has their own set of priorities and can to a certain extent choose where to deploy extra resources.
Unlike the majority of municipal police departments, where a mayor or local governing body chooses a chief, voters have the opportunity to elect the head of most sheriff’s offices. Thirty-three Pennsylvania counties will elect a sheriff on Nov. 4.
Before heading to the polls, here are the basic duties of the job and how a successful candidate can shape it.
What is a sheriff?
A sheriff, whether elected or appointed, must go through 760 hours of training and pass proficiency tests. Their office budget and the size of their staff depend on the county.
Sheriff’s offices have different duties from municipal or State Police. They are primarily responsible for civil work, said James Ott, president of the Pennsylvania Sheriffs’ Association.
Ott worked in a municipal police department before being elected as Blair County sheriff eight years ago. He became president of the association this July.
Ott summarized what Pennsylvania sheriffs’ offices generally do as follows:
- Provide security and protection to courtrooms.
- Transport people to and from jail for court proceedings.
- Provide witness transports from prisons.
- Act as custodian and maintain the integrity of warrants that rise above the magisterial district court level.
- Organize foreclosure sales, otherwise known as sheriff sales.
- Process and handle License to Carry firearm permits (except for the sheriff in Philadelphia).
- Execute protection from abuse orders, otherwise known as restraining orders.
Pennsylvania sheriffs are unique compared to those of other states, said Penn State criminal justice professor Jennifer Gibbs. Outside the commonwealth, sheriffs are the primary police force for communities without municipal departments. Here, that role is largely filled by State Police.
Sheriffs here can authorize deputies to respond to emergency calls, but they are not the primary responders, Ott said. They can also make criminal arrests and some traffic stops, but they do not have full investigative powers. For example, they can ask for personal identification during a stop, but will not have the lead in a murder investigation, he said.
The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office is the only one that has the full abilities of municipal police, Ott noted.
Do I elect a sheriff this year?
The following counties have a sheriff election this year:
- Adams
- Allegheny
- Armstrong
- Berks
- Blair
- Bucks
- Butler
- Cambria
- Cameron
- Clarion
- Clearfield
- Columbia
- Cumberland
- Delaware
- Erie
- Forest
- Greene
- Huntingdon
- Juniata
- Lackawanna
- Lawrence
- Lebanon
- Lycoming
- Mckean
- Mifflin
- Perry
- Pike
- Schuylkill
- Susquehanna
- Tioga
- Union
- Venango
- Washington
A sheriff’s term lasts four years and the office is partisan. Counties not listed above will have a sheriff election in 2027. Northampton County officials appoint the sheriff, so there will not be an election for the office.
What can differentiate sheriff candidates?
Each sheriff decides where to allocate extra resources in their county, Ott said.
Some sheriffs, he said, might put more deputies on traffic patrol or make them available if other police forces need backup on emergency calls. Others might assign their deputies primarily to court duties.
They may also need buy-in from the district attorney if extra responsibilities would result in prosecutions. However, the office may not have the staff to handle more than the mandatory roles, even if the sheriff wants to take on more, he said.
“As an elected official, the sheriff has the full and sole responsibility of running his or her office as legally outlined and as they deem fit for their necessity,” Ott said.
They also have the ability to work directly with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by making arrests, assisting operations, and honoring detainers, which allow jails to hold undocumented immigrants beyond their scheduled release to allow ICE agents time to pick them up.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania and Community Justice Project are suing the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office over whether it has sole authority to enter into such agreements, or if the county commission also must approve. Regardless of how the court rules, the sheriff’s agreement still will be necessary.
Ott recommended voters research sheriff candidates and their political stances like they would other local elected offices, such as mayor or councilperson. Sheriffs should be in direct contact with the community they serve, he said.
“I think you have to take a totality of what you think they’re going to face and do, and make decisions on how they’re going to best serve the community,” Ott said. “What’s going to make your community the safest, and what’s going to be the best working relationship with your community?”
Gibbs, of Penn State, has taught courses on varying types of policing for more than 10 years. She recommended voters consider how sheriff candidates say they’ll operate jails, as sheriffs are responsible for overseeing them.
“There’s so many different views and approaches to: What do we do with people who have done something they’re not supposed to do?” she said.
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