In 1900, Curtis made his first formal photographic trip to Native American lands, visiting the Blackfeet in Montana and initiating the enormous project that would absorb him for the next 30 years. He traveled throughout the W United States, Canada, and Alaska, visiting nearly 100 tribal groups and taking more than 40,000 photographs. Many of the resulting photogravure prints are included in his North American Indian, a prodigious 20-volume set that is at once a work of art, an ethnographic survey, and a monumental photographic essay. Curtis has been criticized for staging some photographs, manipulating some negatives to remove seemingly anachronistic elements, and otherwise falsifying images. Nonetheless, his beautifully executed portraits and scenes of ceremony and daily activities generally successfully portray individual Native Americans and now vanished traditional native ways of life. Curtis's book, printed from 1907 to 1930 in a limited and expensive edition, was encouraged by President Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote its foreward, and at first partially financed by J. P. Morgan. Latter stages of publication were mainly paid for by Curtis himself through lectures, exhibitions, sales, and other means, but despite these efforts the photographer was in chronic debt. Curtis also made some 10,000 recordings of the rituals, music, legends, and everyday speech of various Native American groups, and wrote extensively and produced a film, In the Land of the Headhunters (1914), detailing Kwakiutl culture in the Pacific Northwest.

By the time Curtis died, his work had lapsed into obscurity. He was rediscovered a decade later as public awareness of Native American life and early photography burgeoned. Interest in his work increased with the finding (1976) of a trove of his platinum prints at the Smithsonian Institution and the discovery (1977) of his original photogravure plates, and was bolstered by the concurrent boom in the photography market. Since then, his reputation has soared, and his work has been widely exhibited, studied, and reproduced.

History

Early modern usage

Wilson also notes that the office of coroner is, "in many instances, a necessary substitute: for if the sheriff is interested in a suit, or if he is of affinity with one of the parties to a suit, the coroner must execute and return the process of the courts of justice."

Modern usage

Australia

Canada

Alberta

India

United Kingdom

England and Wales

The High Sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement position in Anglosphere countries. The High Sheriff of an English or Welsh county is an unpaid, partly ceremonial post appointed by The Crown through a Warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of Cornwall.

Historically, the court officers empowered to enforce High Court writs were called Sheriffs or Sheriff's Officers. In April 2007 they were replaced by High Court enforcement officers.

City of London

In the City of London, the position of sheriff is one of the officers of the Corporation. Two are elected by the liverymen of the City each year to assist the Lord Mayor, attend the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, and present petitions to Parliament: usually one is an alderman and the other is not. The aldermanic sheriff is then likely to become Lord Mayor in due course.

Scotland

The sheriff court is a court of first instance for the majority of both civil and criminal cases. However, the court's powers are limited, so that major crimes such as rape or murder and complex or high-value civil cases are dealt with in the High Court (for criminal matters) or the Court of Session (for civil matters).

There are six Sheriffdoms in Scotland, each with a Sheriff Principal. Within each Sheriffdom there are several Sheriff Courts; each Court has at least one courtroom and at least one Sheriff. A Sheriff may sit at different courts throughout the Sheriffdom. Scottish Courts Website

Sheriffs are usually advocates and, increasingly, solicitors with many years legal experience. Until recently, they were appointed by the Scottish Executive, on the advice of the Lord Advocate. However, the Scotland Act 1998 introduced the European Convention of Human Rights into Scots law. A subsequent legal challenge to the impartiality of the Sheriffs based on the provisions of the Convention led to the setting up of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland, which now makes recommendations to the First Minister, who nominates all judicial appointments in Scotland other than in the District Court. Nominations are made to the Prime Minister, who in turn makes the recommendation to the Queen.

Ireland

• A court officer in both Dublin City and County and Cork City and County who earn their fees from poundage (commission)
• Civil servants employed by the Revenue Commissioners, known popularly as "tax sheriffs"

In both cases sheriffs are charged with enforcing civil judgements against debtors within their bailiwick. Outside Dublin and Cork the County Registrar carries out the functions of the sheriff regarding judgements. The Dublin and Cork sheriffs also perform all the duties of returning officers in elections (other than local elections) and some other duties concerning pounds. Sheriffs may appoint court messengers, subject to approval of the Minister for Justice, to assist them with their work.

United States

In the United States a sheriff is generally (but not always) the highest, usually elected, law enforcement officer of a county and commander of militia in that county. The political election of a person to serve as a police leader is an almost uniquely American tradition. (The practice has been followed in the British Channel Island of Jersey since at least the 16th century.) All law enforcement officers working for the agency headed by a sheriff are called sheriff's deputies, deputy sheriffs, or sheriff's police and are so called because they are deputized by the sheriff to perform the same duties as he. (In some states, however, a Sheriff may not be a sworn officer but merely an elected official in charge of sworn officers.) These officers may be subdivided into general deputies and special deputies. In some places, the sheriff has the responsibility to recover any deceased persons within their county. That is why often the full title is Deputy Sheriff-Coroner, Deputy Sheriff Coroner or Deputy Sheriff/Coroner, and the sheriff's title is Sheriff Coroner or Sheriff/Coroner. The second-in-command of the department is sometimes called an undersheriff or "Chief Deputy". This is akin to the deputy chief of police position of a police department. In some counties, the undersheriff is the Warden of the county Jail (gaol) or other local Correctional institution.

In many areas of the United States, the sheriff is also responsible for collecting the taxes and may have other titles such as Tax Collector or County Treasurer.

In the U.S., the relationship between the sheriff and other police departments varies widely from state to state, and indeed in some states from county to county. In the northeastern U.S., the sheriff's duties have been greatly reduced with the advent of state-level law enforcement agencies, especially the state police and local agencies such as the county police. In Vermont, for instance, the sheriff (elected) is primarily an officer of the County Court, whose duties include running the county jail and serving papers in lawsuits and foreclosures. Law enforcement patrol is performed as well, in support of State Police and in the absence of a municipal police agency in rural towns. Some such towns contract with the Sheriff to provide dedicated law enforcement presence in lieu of creating a local police force.

Sheriff offices may coexist with other county level law enforcement agencies such as the County police, County park police, county detectives etc.

High Sheriff in the United States

Some U.S. states have a similar position to the British High Sheriff; however, only the states of Hawaii, Virginia, New Hampshire and Rhode Island still use it.

The New York City Sheriff's Office is the oldest civil law enforcement agency in the city of New York with jurisdiction that covers New York City, which contains five counties, also known as The Five Boroughs, each of which contains an Undersheriff. The NYC Sheriffs deputies are granted Peace Officer Status under New York State Penal law and enforce court orders including child support enforcement. City Sheriff Deputies also serve court process papers and assist in enforcing court judgements. NYC Sheriffs Deputies may make arrests for violations of State or city law as well as for contempt of court orders and arrests under NYS mental hygiene laws. Deputies are selected through civil service exams given by the city of New York.

See also

• National Sheriffs' Association
• High Sheriff
• Police memorabilia collecting
• Sharif, an Arab office sometimes anglicised as "Sheriff"
• Schultheiß, the equivalent German mediæval office
• Constable
• Marshal
• Viscount

References