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The Chatham County Sheriff’s Department
is one of the oldest law enforcement
agencies in the United States having
been established in 1732. The title of
Sheriff was not adopted until 1788. Up
until this time the position was known
as a Bailiff and later Provost. The
Office of the Sheriff is the chief law
enforcement officer in the county and
must be elected every four years.
At one time, there were separate sheriffs for Superior, State, and Magistrate
court. In 1985 all three sheriff’s departments were combined to form the
Department we have today. The Office of the Sheriff is mandated by law to
perform certain functions for the County. One of which is to maintain the
County Detention Center. The Sheriff is also mandated to execute all warrants,
civil processes, subpoenas, and writs delivered to him by the courts. The
Chatham County Sheriff's Department currently provides this service Recorders,
Magistrate, State, Probate, and Superior Courts.The Corrections Bureau of the Chatham County Sheriff's Department, and its
inmate population, has significantly evolved over the past 30 years. For 90
years the jail was located on Habersham Street next to the Police Department.
Its capacity was approximately 300 inmates and averaged about 270 inmates
daily.
In 1978 the jail was moved to Montgomery Street next to the Chatham County
Judicial Complex. This facility had an inmate capacity of 381 inmates.
Unfortunately, this facility was not large enough and as a result we were soon
exceeding our capacity. As a result, that facility was placed under a federal
court order that set a maximum amount of inmates allowed. It became necessary
to expand our capacity to satisfy the court order. In 1988 the Chatham County
Detention Center opened off of Chatham Parkway and in 1989 it became necessary
to expand that facility to handle the volume of inmates we were receiving. We
moved into the Chatham County Sheriff’s Complex in 1993 and the Detention Center
was tied in to make up the 5 unit facility. |
