Sheriff

Sheriff, sher′if, n. the governor of a shire: (English law) the chief officer of the crown in every county or shire, his duties being chiefly ministerial rather than judicial: (Scots law) the chief magistrate and judge of the county: in the United States the office of sheriff is mainly ministerial, his principal duties to maintain peace and order, attend courts, guard prisoners, serve processes, and execute judgments.—ns. Sher′iffalty, Sher′iffdom, Sher′iffship, the office or jurisdiction of a sheriff; Sher′iff-clerk, in Scotland the registrar of the sheriff's court, who has charge of the records of the court; Sher′iff-dep′ute (Scot.), the sheriff proper, so called since the abolition of the heritable jurisdictions in 1748 to distinguish him from the earlier heritable Sher′iff-prin′cipal, whose title is now merged in that of the Lord-lieutenant; Sher′iff-off′icer, in Scotland, an officer connected with the sheriff's court, who is charged with arrests, the serving of processes, &c.; Sher′iff-sub′stitute, the acting sheriff in a Scotch county or city, like the sheriff-depute appointed by the crown, but unlike the sheriff-depute forced to reside within his judicial district, and forbidden to take other employment; Un′der-sher′iff, the deputy of an English sheriff who performs the execution of writs. [A.S. scir-geréfa—scir (Eng. shire), geréfa, a governor; cog. with Ger. graf, a count.]