Posted: 9/5/2005 4:40:11 PM EDT
[#26]
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.
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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.
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