El Dorado County Sheriff John D'Agostini speaking about the history of the Sheriff office

The public is invited to the 1/29/13 Agenda 21 speaker event at Pilot Hill Grange Hall. This event will also feature El Dorado County Sheriff John D'Agostini speaking about the history of the Sheriff office. Reservations are required but the event is FREE.

Note registration is required via Dennis & Jan Frelick, (530) 885-5321

A Sheriff is in principal a legal official with responsibility for a county.  In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country.   In many rural areas, sheriff's and their deputies are the principal form of police. The sheriff may also be responsible for the county civil defense, emergency disaster service, rescue service, or emergency management.

The Office of Sheriff is an office of high respect in our judicial system and was known to the most early ages of common law.  In the United States a sheriff is generally the highest law enforcement officer of a county.  A sheriff is in most cases elected by the population of the county. The political election of a person to serve as a police leader is an almost uniquely American tradition.

A sworn law enforcement officer working for an agency headed by a Sheriff is called a Sheriff's Deputy and is so called because he or she is deputized by the Sheriff to perform the same duties as he.  The second-in-command of the office is sometimes called an "Under Sheriff" or "Chief Deputy".