Home Page

The Alabama Sheriffs Association membership consists of a maximum number of 67 elected constitutional officers sworn to uphold the laws of the United States of America and the laws of the State of Alabama and to protect the citizens' rights therein.




The Association's purpose is
- To promote and foster the enforcement of law and order
- To suppress crime
- To devise means for the speedy apprehension of criminals
- To find and discuss ways to better conduct the proper performance of the Sheriff's duties
- To improve their duties to encourage social, charitable and educational activities among the Sheriffs and the public as well
- To better establish the confidence of the public to the service dedicated to the protection of life and property
- To enable the Sheriffs of Alabama to render a better service to the respective counties in Alabama
- To educate the public generally, and juveniles especially, in the benefits derived from the observance of the law by the publication of books, booklets, pamphlets, and other items of information
- To oversee and supervise the operation of the Alabama Sheriffs Youth Ranches and to give the boys and girls love and understanding and make available good work habits, build character and place responsibilities for these young people to develop, to provide recreation to build confidence and a spirit of competitiveness to build healthier bodies



The Association, having a membership of only constitutional elected officials, recognizes and realizes that all laws are made at the State Capitol and at the United States Capitol, so as a member of the National Sheriffs Association, it keeps abreast of the laws made and changed on the national level that affect the citizens' rights and also keeps in communication with the State Legislature when it is in session to avail the membership of new laws and changes in present laws that affect the citizens' rights. The Sheriff oversees all public elections, opens all county courts, maintains all county jails, patrols all county roads, executes all search warrants, and many, many more laws of the land that require the elected Sheriff to be a professional officer and knowledgeable of the law and the Association plays a vital role in seeing that the elected official accompliishes this professional goal.  The Sheriff supervises from as few as five employees to more than five hundred and it is a must that he have the full concept of the criminal justice system and changes made therein.



The Association feels that, in today's world, the deupty's role is required to be a professional one and we recommend to the Sheriffs an enforceable code of ethics, a common body of knowledge and skills and increasingly a specified level of training and education to keep them abreast of Constitutional law and changes of the constitutional basis of civil rights, civil liberties, rights of the accused and the legal basis for, and limitations of, law enforcement action.



We encourage the Sheriff to make available to his deputies and to himself all acts of criminal law, state and federal; laws of arrest concerning a peace officer's right and duty to make an arrest and distinction between felony and misdemeanor arrest; sources and methods of locating state and federal laws; full knowledge of the Federal Gun Control Act; methods and rules to preserve evidence; admissibility and inadmissibility evidence, circumstantial evidence, hearsay and documentary evidence; court appearance and procedures; types of crimes; subversive groups; handling of communication equipment; community relations; arrest techniques; firearms training; and first aid.



The Association holds seminars to inform the newly elected Sheriffs (and to refresh the present Sheriffs) of all the aforementioned aids.



We know one fact is clear in law enforcement as well as in any other organization: No group is any better than the leadership it gets. In any county law enforcement work, we recognize that the key responsibility is that of the Sheriff.



This leadership role must carry all of the previously mentioned areas of professional law enforcement and criminal justice and the Alabama Sheriffs Association's goal is to play the lead in accomplishing that requirement.

Contact Information

Alabama Sheriffs Association     514 Washington Avenue     Montgomery, Alabama 36104-4385

Office: (334) 264-7827     Toll Free: (800) 622-7827     Fax: (334) 269-5588

Email: alsheriffs@aol.com

Powered by NextEffect
Admin