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| MEDIA ADVISORY: SHERIFF'S OFFICE NOT A DEPARTMENT |
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Members of the media and some elected officials often refer to the Office of the Sheriff incorrectly by using the term “sheriff’s department” instead of “sheriff’s office.” The Sheriff of DeKalb County, on behalf of the other 158 sheriffs in the state of Georgia, respectfully requests that our agencies be correctly referred to as “sheriff’s office.”
The Office of the Sheriff in the structure of county government is an elected, constitutional officer. As with the offices of other elected officials, the internal operations of the sheriff’s office are the sole responsibility of that elected official, the sheriff. Unlike employees appointed to head the departments within county government, elected officials are neither subordinate to nor an employee of a county administrator, manager or commission.
Basically, elected officials head offices and not departments of the county government. Thank you for granting us the same courtesy afforded our elected constitutional peers, that in all matters involving the sheriff’s office the correct title as written in the constitution of the state of Georgia and reaffirmed by case law will be used in reference to law enforcement agencies headed by sheriffs.
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