COUNTY SHERIFF

To view a listing of the County Sheriff from 1808 to present, Click Here

The office of sheriff was created in 1792 when the first sheriff was appointed by Northwest Territorial Governor St. Clair.  Under the 1802 Ohio Constitution the office became an elective post; the original two-year term was extended to four years in 1936.

When settlers arrived in Delaware County, all law enforcement at first followed the county sheriff style borrowed from England.  The word sheriff actually comes from the Old English words shire reeve, meaning an official who kept the king’s peace in the countryside.  The first jail, a long structure measuring twelve by twenty-four feet, stood overlooking the Delaware Run.  Addison Carver was contracted for the construction at a cost of $128.75.  Poorly built, prisoners would allegedly escape through the roof.  In 1814 a larger and sturdier stone jail was finished.  A decade later, a red, wooden barnlike building measuring approximately 1300 square feet took its place.  Throughout the middle of the century, Delaware County used a two story brick facility to house inmates, until the 1870s when the county jail was built on Central Avenue.  As late as 1976, the Sheriff resided there with his wife, who as the jail matron fed and cared for the inmates. The current jail was constructed on Route 42 in 1988.

In 1930, Delaware’s population hovered at 26,000 and the Sheriff made a total of 322 arrests.  By 1950 the population had reached 30,000, while 450 arrests were made with only three deputies and two vehicles.  The jail housed nearly 800 prisoners in 1967, and the Sheriff Office had come to include five deputies and three patrol cars.  An emergency medical service requiring four special cruisers was attached in 1972, with the ranks growing to 32.  As of 2023, Delaware’s population was 235,675 with 126 deputies on the force.

The only Line of Duty Death the Sheriff’s Office has suffered was in 1924, when Deputy Rea Christian Horlocker lost his life at the age of 39 while in pursuit of criminals.

(Source: Ohio County Records Manual. Revised Edition Ohio Historical Society and The Story of the Star: A History of the Delaware County Sheriff Delaware County, Ohio by Dr. Jesse Hysell)

Partition Docket (Sheriff Sales)
Book 3:   1939-1967
Book 4:   1967-1977

Foreign Execution
Docket:   1952-1976

Jail Register
Book 24:  1991-1994
Book 25:  1993-1995
Book 26:  Sept 1995 – Feb 1996