The obvious answer is law enforcement, but what is their role outside of local police departments?  Do they have broader powers than local departments?  Are the requirements to become a deputy more stringent?  Does a sheriff deputy "outrank" a typical local police officer at the scene of an incident?

They are usually LEO's at a county level and sometimes will have a larger jurisdiction than city LEO's.
They don't outrank local LEO's be may be the agency in charge if the incident is in county jusrisdiction or outside city limits.

Sheriff's, at least in these parts, are elected.  Police Chiefs are politically appointed.

Quoted: They are usually LEO's at a county level and sometimes will have a larger jurisdiction than city LEO's. They don't outrank local LEO's be may be the agency in charge if the incident is in county jusrisdiction or outside city limits.

What he said.

Around here, they also do all of the CCW stuff as well.

Around here Sheriffs are the highest ranking LE in their county.

Quoted: Around here Sheriffs are the highest ranking LE in their county.

I believe this is the case everywhere.  On paper, very little can happen in law enforcement inside a county without the say-so of the Sheriff, which is probably the primary purpose for him being an elected official instead of appointed.

They're normally also in charge of the jail, courthouse security, and civil process (serving papers).

Sheriff
                          Long respected as the county's top lawman, the sheriff                           has a range of duties that include criminal investigations,                           traffic enforcement, operation of the jail and other                           responsibilities.

                       

Duties of the sheriff include:

                         
Providing security for the operation of county and district courts;
                         
Enforcing traffic laws, other county ordinances and other state laws;
                         
Service of process;
                         
Accepting bail for prisoners in his custody;
                         
Conducting sales of seized and unclaimed properties; and
                         
Taking charge of and responsibility for the county jail and prisoners.

Quoted: Around here Sheriffs are the highest ranking LE in their county.

Same here, the sheriff of Lafayette Parish outranks all other law enforcement within the parish borders. State police, FBI, etc.

Quoted: Around here Sheriffs are the highest ranking LE in their county.

Are you sure you don't mean the Coroner?

Usually the County Coroner is considered the highest ranking LE in the County... (little known fact )

edit.. ok, at least here in IL anyways...

Here in the County of Orange in CA he is referred to as Sheriff/Coroner.  The Sheriff is the top LE in the County and does the law enforcement in some smaller cities that do not choose to have a PD and instead contract for service.  I believe all official autopsies go through the County Coroner.  As some have said, it's normal for them to be elected.

Sheriffs are elected.

Sheriffs are constitutionally empowered in most states (that's why some of the Militia types recognize Deputies over the Police.).

Deputies have jurisdiction in the entire county (Which in reality is formality, at least in Alabama you are sworn with statewide arrest power.).

In my couty we are the largest and best funded Department with the most resources. We handle the majority of all major cases in the county. THE DA can order a Police Department to turn a case over to the SO.The buck stops with us.

We are responsible for the court's security, serving civil processes and warrants and for the jail.

It is very difficult to become a Deputy with my department as opposed to the POlice Departments in the county.

All LEOs get their power from the Sheriff tecnically.

Our uniforms are cooler.

Our Cars are cooler.

We get to kick more doors.

The sheriff's Dept can be contracted out to perform the duties of a city PD (the town next to me has their own "police force" so to say, but they're all sheriff's deptuties assigned to work that city, and they have their own uniform, cars, tickets, etc.)

The jurisdiction of the sheriff is for unincorporated areas of the county, security for the court house, and also the county juvenile detention facilities and jail. In California there exists a special circumstance as all LEOs full arrest powers reciporocated state-wide while on or off duty (though generally off-duty officers serve better as witnesses instead)

The role of the Sheriffs Department is to operate the county jail housing pretrial inmates and those convicted of misdemeanor offenses, as well as provide law enforcment services to the unicorporated areas of the county.

Quoted: Our uniforms are cooler. Our Cars are cooler. We get to kick more doors.

Heh, it's kinda the opposite here.. The city PDs have the newer, better looking vehicles, and new blue uniforms. The sheriff's dept has older vehicles, and the older tan colored uniforms.

But I can understand on the vehicles, seeing where the dept needs to partol - Richmond and Pittsburg/Bay Point "Bullet Point"

Imagine two Oaklands in one county, that's just about the situation here.

Once a week on Tuesdays from 9AM to 11AM the Sheriff's dept is available here where I live to take my fingerprints for the ATF when I can scrounge up enough cash to afford NFA items.  

Sheriff's deputies handle items outside of city limits.  The do have jurisdiction inside city limits however.  I believe they get paid better than the city popo's

There are some areas that only have a 9-5 dept, and some that have no city police period. Patroling these areas would be another duty of the Sherrifs dept.

around here (western NY) they run the county jails, are court security, and do road patrols/respond to calls at houses and other property in county areas that aren't covered by a town or village police department

Another interesting thing is that a city in AL can pick and choose what crimes they wish to work. AFO rexample up untill about a year ago ALL sex abuse and rape cases went to the SO. Basically a PD is not required to provide all services of a LE agency but a SO is.

Keep in mind not every state has state police. CA has them but they are not typical in that they mainly protect state buildings & employees.  Somebody correct me if they have better info, some of this is a bit old.

Ponch and Jon pretty much are limited to state highways (some of which are in the form of 4-lane streets through cities with stop lights etc.) and interstates, except in some unincorporated areas where I believe they are also contracted for traffic enforcement (though one on the bench at the car wash said he was on protection for the Governor & Lt. Governor), and the Sheriff's Office also does as described by others above.

[rant]And then we have A.G. Bill Lockyer who spent most of his years after law school with his nose in the public trough as a state Assemblyman and Senator, only recently to wind up in '98 as a law enforcment official, having, according to the best information I have, NEVER PROSECUTED A CASE IN HIS LIFE.  Whether he carries or not, he does manage to shoot himself in the foot from time to time and has every bit as much integrity as, say, Feinstein or Boxer.[/rant]

down here in NYC, the sherriffs office does reposessions and civil enforcement such as evictions and serving, and although they have peace officer status (NY differentiates between peace officer status and police officer status), they dont take on any LE functions

Quoted: Quoted: Around here Sheriffs are the highest ranking LE in their county. Are you sure you don't mean the Coroner? Usually the County Coroner is considered the highest ranking LE in the County... (little known fact ) edit.. ok, at least here in IL anyways...

The Coroner is the only one who can arrest the Sheriff, here.

Sherriff's Dept: The Law
City LEO: The Poleese (police)

My county has county PD as well as a separate county sheriff's dept.  Not real sure why we have both, but the sheriff's dept guys are usually the ones who get stuck doing things like taping subpoenas and eviction notices to people's doors while the county guys are more visibly on patrol and stuff.  Anybody with more knowledge on this than me, please comment.  Of course, we have a state PD too, all the actual cities (Baltimore...lol) and counties have their PD's, all the counties to my knowledge also have a sheriff's dept.  The town I live in isn't a city, so we're in the county's jurisdiction.  The people I see/encounter the most are the county police, you rarely ever see the sheriff's dept people when you're out and about doing everyday stuff.  

DARE cars...

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Around here Sheriffs are the highest ranking LE in their county. Are you sure you don't mean the Coroner? Usually the County Coroner is considered the highest ranking LE in the County... (little known fact ) edit.. ok, at least here in IL anyways... The Coroner is the only one who can arrest the Sheriff, here.

Interesting fact...

Texas:

Art. 2.17. Conservator of the peace                             Each sheriff shall be a conservator of the peace in his county, and shall arrest all offenders against the laws of the State, in his view or hearing, and take them before the proper court for examination or trial.  He shall quell and suppress all assaults and batteries, affrays, insurrections and unlawful assemblies.  He shall apprehend and commit to jail all offenders, until an examination or trial can be had. Art. 2.18. Custody of prisoners                                 When a prisoner is committed to jail by warrant from a magistrate or court, he shall be placed in jail by the sheriff.  It is a violation of duty on the part of any sheriff to permit a defendant so committed to remain out of jail, except that he may, when a defendant is committed for want of bail, or when he arrests in a bailable case, give the person arrested a reasonable time to procure bail;  but he shall so guard the accused as to prevent escape. Art. 2.19. Report as to prisoners                                   On the first day of each month, the sheriff shall give notice, in writing, to the district or county attorney, where there be one, as to all prisoners in his custody, naming them, and of the authority under which he detains them. Art. 2.20. Deputy                                               Wherever a duty is imposed by this Code upon the sheriff, the same duty may lawfully be performed by his deputy.  When there is no sheriff in a county, the duties of that office, as to all proceedings under the criminal law, devolve upon the officer who, under the law, is empowered to discharge the duties of sheriff, in case of vacancy in the office.

It really depends on where you are. In many parts of the state, the SO runs the Jails as a primary responsibility, with a few deputies to patrol vast areas of rural territory. In the more built up counties, SOs may have a very small patrol section because most of the county is inside of incorporated cities. Inside of cities, the local PD usually exercises primary jursidiction on everything, though there is no clear-cut legislation on who has the authority to conduct investigations or "run" an incident scene. While the Sheriff is the "chief" LEO for a county, municipal guys don't work for him, nor are they under any obligations to take orders from him.

The Sheriff has specific duties to handle many civil matters, serving process issued by the County and District courts, and run County jails that municipal agencies do not have authority over (and frankly do not want). Sheriffs also have authority to take charge of any "military company" in the county to stop insurrections and riots, though nobody is quite clear on how that would work in practice in the 21st century, particularly as most counties lack any "military companies."

In my area, the local PDs are mostly better paid, equipped and trained than the SO. That is more often than not the case in this state, but, like I said, it really depends on where you are.