Sheriff’s Office

COMPASSION, GUIDED BY EXPERIENCE, ROOTED IN INTEGRITY

Maine has 16 county sheriffs, each elected to a four-year term by the citizens of their county.  The Sheriff is a constitutional Office and has a rich history of serving the people of Maine.  The Sheriff is the “people’s law enforcement” because they are the only elected law enforcement leaders in the state.

In each county, the Sheriff is, by statute, the highest-ranking law enforcement officer.  He works with the county commissioners, who set the Sheriff’s budget.  However, the Sheriff is independent and only the Governor can give the Sheriff an order.

Each Sheriff has a Chief Deputy, who is hired at the pleasure and discretion of each Sheriff.  The Chief Deputy in each county takes on varying roles, depending on that county sheriff and how they set up their office.  In our county, the Chief Deputy is largely responsible for the law enforcement and emergency communications divisions.

The Sheriff’s Office is comprised of the following Divisions:

• Law enforcement investigations and patrol.
• The county jail.
• The county 911 emergency communications center.
• Service of civil process.
• Prisoner transport and security.

To accomplish this, the Sheriff employs 32 full time and 15 part time personnel.  Our strength is our people, who seek each day to faithfully serve the folks of Piscataquis County.

Piscataquis County is 4000 square miles, the size of Connecticut, with 16,800 people.  It is one of two counties east of the Mississippi categorized by the Federal Government as a “frontier county”.