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Sheriff John Haller
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The office of Sheriff is the oldest form of Law Enforcement in the common-law system. There have been county sheriff’s in the English speaking world for over 1,000 years. The office of Sheriff dates to the reign of Alfred the Great of England.
The word “Sheriff” is derived from two other ancient words. Under Alfred the Great, England was divided into geo-political regions known as “shires”, or counties. In 1066, William the Conqueror defeated the Anglo-Saxons and brought the Norman Government to England. Under the Normans (as well as the Anglo-Saxons), the king was represented in each shire (county) by an agent called a “reeve”. As the English language changed over the centuries, the “shire-reeve” became known as the “Sheriff”.
While the Sheriff is no longer a representative of the king, many of the duties of the Sheriff remain unchanged. The Sheriff is still the chief law enforcement officer of the county. According to Nebraska State Statute 23-1701.02 “It shall be the duty of every sheriff to apprehend, on view or warrant, and bring to the court all felons and disturbers and violators of the criminal laws of this state, to suppress all riots, affrays, and unlawful assemblies which may come to his or her knowledge, and generally to keep the peace in his or her proper city.”
Also, according to Nebraska State Statute 23-1701 “It is the duty of the sheriff to serve or otherwise execute, according to law, and return writs or other legal process issued by lawful authority and directed or committed to the sheriff and to perform such other duties as may be required by law. The county sheriff shall prepare and file the required annual inventory statement of county personal property in his or her custody or possession as provided in sections 23-346 to 23-350.”
Finally, according to Nebraska State Statue 23-1701.03, “The sheriff shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred and imposed upon him or her by other statutes and by the common law.”
For more information, follow this link: Wikipedia page on “Sheriff”