Lawmakers must decide whether sheriffs are law enforcement or civilian agency

By Sean Connolly
Special to the Law Weekly

sean[at]connolly-communications.com

When you see a deputy sheriff wearing a uniform, badge and a gun, do you see a law enforcement officer or someone with authority no different than a private citizen?

For the past few years, the sheriffs of Pennsylvania have been trying to get the General Assembly to see the former rather than the latter. I have helped the Pennsylvania Sheriffs' Association with its efforts to restore the sheriffs' authority to participate in the law enforcement activities following two state Supreme Court rulings.

In February 2006, the state Supreme Court ruled in Kopko v. Miller, 892 A.2d 766 (Pa. 2006) that sheriffs and deputy sheriffs were not defined as law enforcement personnel under state law. While the case dealt with wiretap training, the ruling resulted in deputy sheriffs being removed from the Attorney General's drug task forces. In November 2007, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the Kopko ruling in Commonwealth v. Dobbins, PICS Case No. 07-1923 (Pa. Nov. 29, 2007) Baer, J. (26 pages). The justices remanded a meth conviction to the trial court for reconsideration (The defendant was recently re-tried and found guilty). The court said that, as the law is written, sheriffs and deputy sheriffs have authority "no different than a private citizen." That line stung the most, considering the extensive law enforcement training that deputy sheriffs are required to take to become state certified.

In its rulings, the court said it appreciated the way the Office of Sheriff has evolved into a modern law enforcement agency, but the statutes have not kept up with the pace of change. If lawmakers want sheriffs to participate in law enforcement activities, the court said, they need to say that in the law. There is legislation before the House Judiciary Committee that would give the sheriffs the authority to participate in law enforcement activities as needed in their communities. This legislation is particularly important to sheriffs in rural areas, where there are little or no municipal police and the state troopers on duty could be many miles away.

State Rep. Thomas Caltagirone, D-Berks, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has held several meetings and hearings on the legislation. At those meetings, the state police, municipal police and district attorneys have lined up in opposition to the sheriffs. The state police contend that they have the rural counties covered adequately. The municipal police question the qualifications and training of the sheriffs and deputy sheriffs. The district attorneys assert that they, not the sheriffs, are the top elected law enforcement officials in the counties and should call the shots.

It is a classic law enforcement turf battle. The opponents argue that the legislation, House Bill 466, gives too much authority to the sheriffs and allows them to become countywide police forces. They prefer the status quo of letting state police, municipal police and county detectives investigate crimes and make arrests, while the sheriffs focus on transporting prisoners, guarding the courthouse and serving writs. Most sheriffs in urban and suburban areas, which have plenty of state and municipal police, say they have no plans to begin patrolling the streets. However, sheriffs in rural areas are pushing hard for the authority to participate in law enforcement activities, including serving on drug task forces and making arrests when other law enforcement personnel are unavailable.

Rep. John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, has been pushing his proposal to put 10,000 police officers on the streets of Pennsylvania. The sheriffs support Perzel's proposal, but point out that the General Assembly can empower 2,300 fully trained deputy sheriffs by passing HB 466 at no additional cost to the taxpayers.

The question is whether the sides can find a compromise to allow sheriffs to rejoin the law enforcement community, or whether the turf battle will keep sheriffs without a clearly defined role in Pennsylvania.