The Badge: Spotlight on Sheriffs

Sheriffs shape jail conditions and enjoy great policy discretion on matters ranging from immigration to solitary confinement, but their authority and decisions are often overlooked, which poses a challenge for change and accountability. Each edition of The Badge, a series on The Appeal: Political Report, will examine a facet of the powers and responsibilities of sheriffs.

Part 9. Sheriffs bear responsibility for the use of solitary confinement

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg

“The sheriff holds the keys to each and every cell in the jail, and can decide whether they house people humanely, or in around-the-clock isolation,” an advocate said.

Part 8. How sheriffs are extracting wealth from people in jails

Katie Fernelius

“Sheriffs should commit to no longer extracting resources from incarcerated people, who are very disproportionately poor people of color,” says one researcher.

Part 7. Sheriffs have power over whether people in jail can vote

Kira Lerner

They can either make necessary voter registration and ballot materials accessible to people in their custody, or make them impossible to obtain.

Part 6. How sheriffs choose to help ICE in local jails

Jessica Pishko

When people are arrested and booked into a local jail, they often end up on ICE’s radar. Sheriffs are a major reason why.

Part 5. Sheriff powers in a public health emergency

Jessica Pishko

Sheriffs wield enormous power, from ordering people’s release to organizing contact with defense attorneys, and they can direct it in ways that will help contain the spread of COVID-19 and protect incarcerated people.

Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Part 4. Bail reform and pretrial detention

Jessica Pishko

Sheriffs are fighting New York’s cuts to pretrial detention. But bail reform can instead push sheriffs to embrace shrinking jails.

Niagara County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook

Part 3. Policing practices

Jessica Pishko

Sheriffs’ elected status confers them autonomy. Where does that leave the push for policing reform?

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Part 2. The opioid crisis

Jessica Pishko

Sheriffs are on the frontlines of the opioid crisis. What’s at stake when they set policies toward substance use treatment, and how can they promote community-oriented solutions?

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Part 1. Jail deaths

Jessica Pishko

Jail deaths happen with alarming regularity. What are sheriffs’ responsibilities for preventing them, and why are jails such dangerous places?

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images