 Welcome to Elko County, Nevada
Wells, Nevada is located at the crossroads of Highway 93 - North & South and Interstate 80 - East & West, 50 miles from the Elko County seat and is served by the Elko County Sheriff's Department under the direction of Neil Harris, the County Sheriff.
Our officers cover a very large territory as Elko County is the 4th largest county in the United States and there is a lot of country out here. Not only do they serve the local township but they also serve the needs of the outlying ranches that are scattered over miles of seemingly endless desert and mountain terrain.
All of our officers are well schooled veterans of Law Enforcement spanning many years of experience from the military and metropolitan police departments. They know their business. It is because of the expertise in their field that Wells maintains a very low crime rate in comparison to other communities of the same nature and population.
Let's keep it together out there. We do rely on each other...always in all ways.
THE OFFICE OF SHERIFF
The office of the Sheriff is truly unique in the criminal justice community. In the United States, they are usually an elected official responsible for the law enforcement, corrections, court security, transportation of prisoners and the service of civil and criminal processes in the county. They are a ministerial officer with delegated executive authority to carry out their duties. Their responsibilities may vary from state to state.
GENERAL HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF OFFICE
When the first sheriff took his oath to protect the lives and property of his fellow citizens cannot precisely be determined. Some historians trace the origins of the office back to the ancient Roman pro-consul. The Old Testament in the Bible mentions the sheriff in the Book of Daniel in the account of Nebuchadnezzar setting up a golden image in Babylon. Down through history the sheriff has become one of the most familiar and indispensable institutions in the history of government. The office of sheriff holds a special significance for English-speaking people. Of all the offices in government, only the office of king is older and has greater dignity. Changes have occurred in the function, status and power of the office but the office has maintained its existence and unique characteristics for almost nine centuries. In this long history, many duties have been performed by the sheriff both as an agent of the monarchy and as a constitutional officer of great importance.
The office of sheriff, as known today in the United States, traces its beginnings, powers, and responsibilities to historical Scotland. In fact, the basic powers and responsibilities exercised by sheriffs today are the same as those exercised by a sheriff at Scottish common law. This makes the common law interpretations of the office of sheriff very important in defining its role and duties in the United States. The office of sheriff is usually a constitutionally established office. Our state constitutions were written with the understanding that the common law and other previous historical practices should be used to interpret the constitutional provisions referring to the office of sheriff. An example of one problem which may arise is where the sheriff is made responsible to carry out law enforcement duties with no specific constitutional or statutory authority setting out his duties. In such a case, the courts have held that since the sheriff is a constitutionally established officer, he is vested with those responsibilities which come from the common law tradition. This gives the sheriff the same powers and duties which where imposed on by common law.
As tradition still holds to this day, when a fellow officer falls in the line of duty, or passes away into the 'Fields of Heather', the Pipes are played to console the hearts and souls of those who remain and to announce the entrance of their fellow officers coming. This is done no matter their gender, race, creed or color...ever and forever.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE OFFICE
The term "sheriff" comes from the Anglo-Saxon terms "shire," or county, and "reeve," or keeper. The shire-reeve or sheriff was the "keeper of the county" which he remains today.
Territories were first divided into the geographical districts known as shires. A shire is roughly equivalent to our county. Local governments were set up on the basis of tithings. A tithing was an area in which ten families lived. Ten tithings were known as a "hundred." Each hundred had a headman called a "reeve." Several hundreds were combined to form a shire. In order to maintain law and order in the shires, the king appointed a "shire-reeve" to act in his behalf. This shire-reeve acted as both judge and chief law enforcement officer for the shire. This dual responsibility made the sheriff a very powerful military as well as judicial official.
There were several reasons for the power and prominence of the sheriff, foremost of which was the link he provided between the central government and the local regions. From the very first, the sheriff was always a leading man in the shire. He understood local affairs and knew the people who lived in the community. As a royal servant appointed by the king and responsible to him alone, the sheriff became the king's main representative and administrative officer in the shire. He had command of the local militia units and often presided over the local shire court with the bishop in the absence of the earl. As the agent of the king, he was responsible for the execution of justice in the shire, carrying out the king's commands, and watching the royal interests. He collected the kings share of court fines and fees and all other revenues due the crown. He supervised the lands and buildings of the crown and kept the king in touch with local affairs.
Each sheriff was required to pay to the king's treasury an annual rental fee called the sheriff's "farm." This fee was collected from the regular royal revenue and from the penalties imposed by the local hundred and shire courts. If the sheriff was diligent and collected the monies due, he was permitted to keep everything he collected in excess of his rental fee as his salary and profit. As a result, there were many abuses of the power given the sheriffs to collect monies. Royal justices were ordered to keep an eye on the sheriffs and report to the king any suspicious activities.
A sheriff had many other tasks in addition to collecting revenue and presiding over the local courts. He usually had official custody of the royal castles in his shire and responsibility for the prisons. In time of war, he commanded the militia; and, in time of peace, he arrested criminals. He gave hospitality to royal guests who visited his shire and was required to serve the royal orders, called writs, and sent out from the Exchequer (Department of Treasury) to debtors. In later days, this indispensable agent also served the judicial writs sent out from the central courts and collected juries for the sessions of court.
DEVELOPMENT OF OFFICE IN THE UNITED STATES
When America was being settled, the colonist brought with them many of their old institutions, including their systems of law enforcement. The environment here in the New World forced them to modify their pre-existing customs. However, the system of ministerial offices, including the sheriff, still remains essentially as it was in the earliest days of jurisprudence.
In the United States, as it was a thousand years ago in their native homeland, the sheriff is the chief executive officer of the county with the same powers and same liabilities as his predecessors. According to Lord Coke, a great legal scholar, the sheriff has a threefold duty:
No suit begins and no process is served but by the sheriff. He must also return impartial juries for the trial of men's lives, liberties, lands, goods, etc.
He is to make execution which is the life and fruit of the law.
He is the principal conservator of peace within the county.
These words impose upon a sheriff duties of a very comprehensive character and of the greatest importance. The powers given to him by law must therefore enable him to carry out the grave interests committed to his charge. In most jurisdictions, it is not only the power, but the duty, of sheriffs to preserve the peace, to enforce the laws, to arrest and commit to jail felons and other violators of the statutory or common law, to execute all processes directed to him, to attend the trial courts of record, to preserve peace and quiet, and to execute and carry out the mandates, orders and directions of the court. The sheriff represents the sovereignty of the state and has no superior in his county in exercising executive and administrative functions, conserving the public peace, vindicating the law, and preserving the rights of government. When a situation arises, it is the sheriff's right and his duty to determine what the public safety and tranquility demand, and to act accordingly under the law. To carry out this duty, he possesses a power unique to sheriffs, that of posse comitatus.
As explained in American Jurisprudence:
"As a general rule, the sheriff may summon to his assistance any person when he deems it necessary to effect an arrest. For the purpose of performing his duty to arrest offenders and commit them to custody, he may command all of the male population of his county to attend him, in other words, the posse comitatus or power of the county."
The sheriff's authority to summon a posse is explicitly defined in statutes of at least nineteen states and in one state constitution. Under the common law tradition, this power would probably be held to exist in all states in which the sheriff is a constitutional officer, including Nevada. The sheriff's responsibility to conserve the peace at common law was considered to include not only the arrests of violators but also their detention and trial. The sheriff's present responsibilities as jailer and operator of the local jails come from his duty as conservator of the peace at common law. He must keep securely in confinement all prisoners who are committed to his charge by civil or criminal process issuing from courts of adequate jurisdiction.
In all forty-nine states in which the office of sheriff exists (Alaska does not have sheriffs), the sheriff is responsible for performing court related functions. These functions include acting as court bailiff; attending court sessions; serving summonses, warrants, or various civil processes; and enforcing money decrees such as those relating to garnishment and the sale of property.
THE OFFICE OF SHERIFF
Originally there were three constitutionally established public officers of a law enforcement nature: coroner, township constable and sheriff. Of these three, only the office of sheriff remains as a constitutionally established public office. This means that the office cannot be abolished except by amendment to the Constitution, although the General Assembly may from time to time change the duties and responsibilities of the office.
The Sheriff is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of Elko County.
Elected by the people to provide services to the citizens as required by the Nevada Constitution, Nevada General Statutes and Common Law.
The Sheriff is the Executive Officer of the Elko County Sheriff's Office.
Utilizes the full resources of the Sheriff's Office to provide maximum service.
DUTIES OF THE SHERIFF
Although the office of sheriff is a constitutionally established office in Nevada, the powers and duties of the office remain much as they were at common law. In fact, the Constitution of Nevada gives no guidelines on the duties of the sheriff but merely provides that each county shall have a sheriff elected by the people for a term of four years.
The basic political subdivision in the United States of America is the County, a format upon which all government is based. The county level is where crime can best be recognized and curtailed.
Under the Constitution and Statutes of Nevada, the Sheriff is an elected official, and the primary conservator of the peace. The Sheriff is charged with more statutory duties and responsibilities than any other elected or appointed official in the state. The office of the Sheriff is the only position that requires that a candidate be psychologically tested to determine fitness to serve in the office. The Sheriff is elected for a term of four years with no term limits and may succeed themself.
The Sheriffs of Nevada are equally responsible to the inhabitants within the incorporated cities of their respective county as they are to the inhabitants outside the city limits.
DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF SHERIFF
Suppress all affrays, riots, routs, unlawful assemblies, insurrections and breaches of the peace.
Detection of criminal activities, arrest of offenders, and investigation of all felonious activity within the county, including any vice violations.
Responsible for the free flow of vehicular traffic along all roads and the apprehension of all offenders.
To arrest those know to have intention of breaching the peace, the execution of all criminal warrants and capiases issued.
To attend all courts in the county when they are in session and obey the lawful orders of the court as well as providing security, custody and care of jurors.
Responsible for the execution and return of all civil process and orders of the court according to law, the execution and return of all writs, delinquent taxes, and other processes legally issued, and to the levying of all executions which are delivered to their office.
The sheriff is the keeper of the county jail, required to take charge and custody of the prisoners therein and to receive those lawfully committed and keep them until they are discharged by law.
Additionally, the sheriff is required to transport all insane persons coming into their charge to an appropriate institution, and if they have been charged with or committed some criminal act, take charge of them upon restoration of competence.
To perform the duties required, the Sheriff must rely on an adequate amount of professional, properly trained deputies. Other fellow law enforcement agencies must work in concert with the Sheriff to support efforts to safeguard the community.
It is interesting to note the responsibilities of the other departments within the criminal justice realm. Each of the other agencies has its own realm within which it functions.
Municipal police agencies operate strictly within the city boundaries.
The Highway Patrol operates primarily in the area of traffic enforcement exclusively.
The Nevada Bureau of Investigations is an investigative body but operates as an arm of the District Attorney General except in certain specific criminal activity.
The federal agencies operate within the field of federal law alone.
Criminal violations, whether they be local, state or federal all occur within the county. The county must provide protection of its citizens from local, federal and/or state crimes. County deputies are not limited to specific violations or certain areas within the county, the sheriff is the chief law enforcement in the county and is responsible for the entire county.
The Sheriff is responsible for unholding the United States Constitution as an elected and sworn official and no other law enforcement agency operating within the territories of the Sheriff have any authority to over-ride their (Sheriff's) jurisdiction or authority.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR OFFICE
Any man or woman who desires to run for the office of sheriff must be a qualified voter who meets the other requirements set out in the Nevada Constitution and statutes. The basic qualifications required of a person seeking the office of sheriff are:
Be a citizen of the United States,
Be at least 21 years of age,
Be of sound mind,
Be literate,
Be a resident of Nevada for at least one year.
Be a resident of the county in which he seeks office for at least one year, and
Be a resident of the election ward or precinct for at least 30 days.
DEPUTY SHERIFFS
The office of deputy sheriff is a common law office. The term deputy itself implies the existence of a principal for whom the deputy acts. As a deputy, he/she does not act independently in their own name, but instead they perform all official acts in the name of their principal. When they act as deputy for and in the name of their principal, the law recognizes their acts as being the acts of the principal just as if the principal had performed them in person. They are the alter ego of the sheriff. The sheriff is responsible in every case for the acts of their deputies done within the scope of their authority. The sheriff is liable for neglect or failure on the part of a deputy in executing process delivered to him/her. The sheriff is also liable for injury done to third persons by the wrongful act of a deputy under color of their office. Under the common law doctrine of deputization, it is necessary only that the deputy sheriff act with the consent and the same legal duty as the sheriff for their acts to become acts of the sheriff. Because of the nature of their appointment, a deputy serves at the pleasure of the sheriff who appoints them and may be removed by the sheriff at any time for any good reason.
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