I thought it would be appropriate to start my “Community Voices” blog with information concerning the Office of Sheriff and the history of the Union County, NC Sheriff’s Office. I hope you will find it as interesting as I do. A special thanks to former Union County Sheriff Frank McGuirt for allowing us to share his writing.
The Office Of The Union County, NC Sheriff
Much of our modern law in the United States has been handed down to us from English Common Law. Sometime between the seventh and ninth centuries there developed in England geographical areas known as “Shires”. A shire would be equivalent to a county of today. Over each shire was one man who was charged with much responsibility. This man was called the “Reeve”. The Reeve had military and judicial authority and was appointed by noblemen, or by the king in areas not owned by noblemen. From the words “Shire” and “Reeve” developed the term Sheriff.
So we now have the modern County Sheriff. One of the oldest offices under the democratic system, the Sheriff has remained diversified. What does the Sheriff do? He is the primary law enforcement officer of the county; charged with investigation of crimes and apprehension of criminals. The Sheriff is charged with the service of all civil processes in the county, summons, orders, executions, claim and deliveries, and related papers. It is the responsibility of the Sheriff to see that all felons are transported to the state prison and provide detention and transportation for mentally ill people to the proper hospitals.
It has been said that there are six major operations in the administration of criminal justice – policing, prosecution, courts, probation, corrections and parole. The office of Sheriff has close ties to the policing, the judicial, and the correctional functions.
