Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey

Select Here for the History of the Sheriff's Office

James McGettigan Atlantic County Sheriff 5903 Main Street Mays Landing, New Jersey 08330	Leo P. McGuire Bergen County Sheriff Bergen County Justice Center Hackensack, New Jersey 07601
Jean E. Stanfield Burlington County Sheriff 49 Rancocas Road P.O. Box 6000 Mount Holly, New Jersey 08060-9983	Charles H. Billingham Camden County Sheriff 520 Market Street, Room 100 Camden, New Jersey 08102-1375 phone 609/225-5473, fax 609/225-5595 email sheriff@co.camden.nj.us
John F. Callinan Cape May County Sheriff 4 More Road, DN 301 Cape May Court House, NJ 08210 email cmcsheriff@co.cape-may.nj.us	Michael F. Barruzza Cumberland County Sheriff 220 North Laurel Street P.O. Box 677 Bridgeton, New Jersey 08302
Armando B. Fontoura Essex County Sheriff Essex County New Courts Building 2nd Floor, Room 204 Newark, New Jersey 07102	Carmel M. Morina Gloucester County Sheriff Criminal Justice Complex Hunter/Euclid Street Woodbury, New Jersey 08096
Joseph T. Cassidy Hudson County Sheriff 595 Newark Avenue, Ground Floor Jersey City, New Jersey 07306	Deborah V. Trout Hunterdon County Sheriff P.O. Box 2590 Flemington, New Jersey 08822-2590
Kevin C. Larkin Mercer County Sheriff 175 South Broad Street Trenton, New Jersey 08650	Joseph C. Spicuzzo Middlesex County Sheriff P.O. Box 1188 New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903
Kim Guadagno Monmouth County Sheriff 50 East Main Street P.O. Box 1263 Freehold, New Jersey 07728-1263	Edward V. Rochford Morris County Sheriff P.O. Box 900 Morristown, New Jersey 07963-0900
William L. Polhemus Ocean County Sheriff P.O. Box 2191 120 Hooper Avenue Toms River, New Jersey 08754	Jerry Speziale Passaic County Sheriff P.O. Box 2437 Paterson, New Jersey 07509
Chuck Miller Salem County Sheriff 94 Market Street Salem, New Jersey 08079	Frank J. Provenzano, Jr. Somerset County Sheriff P.O. Box 3000 Somerville, New Jersey 08876
Robert E. Untig Sussex County Sheriff 39 High Street Newton, New Jersey 07860	Ralph G. Froehlich Union County Sheriff 2 Broad Street Elizabeth, New Jersey 07208
Sal Simonetti Warren County Sheriff 413 Second Street Belvidere, New Jersey 07823

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Compliments of the Hudson County Sheriff's Department

The Office of the Sheriff is over 1000 years old and has a long and interesting history. Nearly as far back as the beginning of English and Scottish Law, the Office was the center of local administration of justice.

The word "Sheriff" itself came about in an unusual manner. Originally the word "Reeve" meant an administrative official who had the general duties of a steward, or overseer or bailiff. His authority extended over various territorial area sometimes called his "Bailiwick" His title was often used in combination to indicate his jurisdiction. The Reeve of a Borough was called a Borough-Reeve, The Reeve of a Church, a Church-Reeve, and the Reeve of a Shire, the Shire- Reeve.

The Shire was a territorial division roughly equivalent to a county. Eventually, a Shire-Reeve was shortened to Sheriff, and the word survives to this day. The Sheriff's principal function in the earliest days seems to have been to protect the interests of both the King and people against the powerful barons. He executed the King's Writs and presided in the county court and the hundred court.

The Posse Comitatus is the entire body of people who may be summoned by the Sheriff to assist in preserving the public peace or in executing any legal precept which is forcibly opposed. The term is still in use today, although almost invariably the comitatus is dropped, and we speak of the posse, or the Sheriff's Posse. Presiding at the courts and holding the power to call out the posse comitatus gave the Sheriff more power than any other official in the County.

In the early days the office was elective, but eventually the power to appoint Sheriff's was invested in the Crown. In certain sections powerful land owners became allied with the Sheriff, and they attempted to make the Office hereditary.

At that period the Office was on a par with that of a member of Parliament, with the Sheriff being a Lord and holding a title. For a time the duties of the Sheriff included the collection of taxes within his Shire. The Sheriff also accompanied the judges of the assizes when they held court. Assizes are periodical sessions of the Superior Courts in the the Counties of England, held for the purposes of administering justice in trials. The Office of the Sheriff was to this country by the Pilgrims.

The Sheriff's responsibilities in the colonies were basically that of collecting taxes and overseeing local elections as the representative of the Governor. Before the Revolutionary War, Sheriff's were appointed by the Governor and held office at his pleasure. The State Constitution, adopted July 2, 1776, provided for the annual elections of Sheriff's and Coroners, who were ineligible for reelection after three terms. These were the only county officials elected by the people.

In the latter part of the 19th Center, the Constitution was amended and Sheriff's were elected for Three-Year terms.

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