Sheriff _hot_ File

An exploration of the unique power sheriffs hold as elected officials directly accountable to voters rather than a police chief.

The Marshall Project and ProPublica frequently publish investigative pieces on Sheriffs that are gripping reads, often exposing the lack of oversight in Sheriff's departments across the US. Sheriff

A modern and influential movement has grown around the idea of the "constitutional sheriff." Proponents argue that the sheriff is the highest-ranking law enforcement authority in the county—above the FBI, the state police, or even the federal government. They claim that sheriffs have the sole authority to determine which laws are constitutional within their jurisdiction. Mainstream legal scholars and courts overwhelmingly reject this view, but it has become a powerful political force in some rural Western and Southern counties. An exploration of the unique power sheriffs hold