Sheriff

sher′if, n. the governor of a shire: ( English law ) the chief officer of the crown in every county or shire, his duties being chiefly ministerial rather than judicial: ( Scots law ) the chief magistrate and judge of the county: in the United States the office of sheriff is mainly ministerial, his principal duties to maintain peace and order, attend courts, guard prisoners, serve proce es, and execute judgments.— ns. Sher′iffalty , Sher′iffdom , Sher′iffship , the office or jurisdiction of a sheriff; Sher′iff-clerk , in Scotland the registrar of the sheriff's court, who has charge of the records of the court; Sher′iff-dep′ute ( Scot. ), the sheriff proper, so called since the abolition of the heritable jurisdictions in 1748 to distinguish him from the earlier heritable Sher′iff-prin′cipal , whose title is now merged in that of the Lord-lieutenant; Sher′iff-off′icer , in Scotland, an officer connected with the sheriff's court, who is charged with arrests, the serving of proce es, .; Sher′iff-sub′stitute , the acting sheriff in a Scotch county or city, like the sheriff-depute appointed by the crown, but unlike the sheriff-depute forced to reside within his judicial district, and forbidden to take other employment; Un′der-sher′iff , the deputy of an English sheriff who performs the execution of writs. [A.S. scir-geréfa — scir (Eng. shire ), geréfa , a governor; cog. with Ger. graf , a count.]