What is a Sheriff?

Video courtesy of the Florida Sheriff's Association http://www.flsheriffs.org/

Where did the word Sheriff come from?

To understand the origin, we must travel back to what is known today as England where the term Reeve referred to a chief or leader and the term shire described groups of hundreds of people banded together, which is what we would today call a county.
So it makes sense that the leader of a shire was called the Shire-Reeve, who was appointed by nobleman and kings to maintain peace and tranquility. This term eventually evolved into the modern word Sheriff.

The role of sheriff came into existence around the 9th century, which makes the sheriff the oldest continuing, non-military, law enforcement entity in history.

To learn more about the role of Sheriff in the state of Florida, please visit www.FLSheriffs.org