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History of the Office of Sheriff
In "The Value of Constitutions", Thomas Jefferson wrote, "There is no honorable law enforcement authority in Anglo-American law, so ancient as that of the County Sheriff whose role as a peace officer goes back at least to the time of Alfred the Great". Around the year 500 A.D. Germanic Tribes from England called Anglo Saxons began an invasion of Celtic England. This led to the consolidation of, late in the 9th century, Anglo-Saxon England, and a unified kingdom under Alfred the Great. Around 700 A.D. government developed out of these Anglo-Saxon tribes, by forming of self-government in groups of ten. The groups called tuns formed the source for the word "town". These tuns formed additional groups of ten, or one hundred families, and elected their own chief called a "gerefa". This term was later shortened to the word "reeve". The groups of Hundreds then merged and became "shires", the forerunner to the modern day county. England then consisted of sixteen ancient counties, which still carry their name, such as Lancashire and Yorkshire. The head of such shire was called a "reeve". Sheriff was derived. By the year 1000 the sheriff was the chief law enforcement Officer of each county. After the Normans beat the Saxons in 1066 the counties were under one rule of the king, and the sheriff was his person for law enforcement and tax collecting. The Magna Carta mentions sheriff 7 times.
In Pennsylvania the Office of Sheriff is created under Article 9 section 4 of our Constitution. Statutorily, the Sheriff is primarily controlled by Article 12 of the County Code (16 P.S. 1201-1216). Section 1216 requires sheriffs to perform all those duties authorized by Statute. However, since the Legislature may only abolish common law by expressly removing it in a statute, the sheriff retains all authority given him at common law. The sheriff is further directed by the Pa. Rules of Civil Procedure. Our Supreme Court has been defining the broad powers of the sheriff over the years. A good review of the Sheriff's common law power of arrest is found in Com. vs, Leets, 537 Pa. 89, 641 A2d. 299 (1994). There the Court upheld the common law power of the sheriff to include the enforcement of the Vehicle Code, but directed training. In short, the Sheriff is the Highest Law Enforcement Officer of his county. He is elected every four years, and he serves both civil and criminal process. His deputies must be certified through a nineteen week training school of 760 hours. The importance of the Office of the Sheriff in the Unified Judicial System as well as the Criminal Justice System is immeasurable.
LANCASTER COUNTY SHERIFF’S
1729-1738: John Taylor
1738-1750: James Sterrett
1750-1752: Andrew Work
1752-1755: Thomas Smith
1755-1758: John Pugh
1758-1761: William Smith
1761-1764: John Hay
1764-1765: Jacob Weber
1765-1767: John Barre
1767-1770: James Webb Jr.
1770-1773: Fredrick Stone
1773-1776: John Ferree
1776-1779: William Kelly
1779-1781: James Work
1781-1783: Joseph Work
1783-1786: Thomas Edwards
1786-1789: John Miller
1789-1791: James Ross
1791-1794: John Miller
1794-1797: Michael App
1797-1800: Christian Carpenter
1800-1803: Michael Rine
1803-1806: John Reitzel
1806-1809: Emanuel Reigart
1809-1812: James Humes
1812-1815: Henry Reigart
1815-1818: George Hambright
1818-1821: John Mathiot
1821-1824: Fredrick Hambright
1824-1827: William White
1827-1830: Adam Diller
1830-1833: Adam Bare
1833-1836: David Miller
1836-1839: Peter Reed Jr.
1839-1842: A.E. Roberts
1842-1845: John Ehler
1845-1848: David Hartman
1848-1851: Jacob Huber
1851-1854: Elias Eby
1854-1857: George Martin
1857-1860: Benjamin F. Rowe
1860-1863: Fredrick Smith
1863-1866: S.W.P. Boyd
1866-1869: J.F.Frey
1869-1872: F Myers
1872-1885: Amos Groff
1885-1888: George W. Tomlinson
1888-1891: D. K. Burkholder
1891-1894: John Sides
1894-1897: Andrew H. Hershey
1897-1900: John H. Myers
1900-1903: Thomas L. McMichael
1903-1906: A. B. Kready
1906-1909: Milton T. Zeigler
1909-1912: Aaron B. Landis
1912-1915: Milton Eaby
1916-1919: Christian G. Garber
1920-1923: Christian F. Homsher
1924-1927: L. F. McCallister
1928-1931: Philip T. Dattisman
1932-1935: Daniel F. Shuman
1936-1939: Tom C. Shirk
1940-1943: William D. Leed
1944-1947: John H. Pfenninger
1948-1951: Abram W. Lane
1952-1955: Abram W. Lane *(first County Sheriff to succeed himself per new state law)
1956-1959: Joseph S. Lamonaca
1960-1963: Harry E. Meyers
1964-1967: Malcolm H. Rapp
1968-1971: Harry L. Young
1972-1979: Frederick B. Plowfield
1980-1988: Thomas Williams
1988-1996: Theodore Sattler
1996-2000: Philip Bomberger, III
2000-2010: Terry A. Bergman
2010-2017: Mark S. Reese
2017-2018: Charles A. Hamilton
2018-Present: Christopher R. Leppler