# List of sheriffs of Wake County, North Carolina

The sheriff of Wake County, North Carolina is responsible for law enforcement in the unincorporated areas of Wake County, North Carolina. Sheriffs within the State of North Carolina are directly elected to four-year terms. Prior to 1938, sheriffs were elected to two-year terms. The Wake County Sheriff's Office is headquartered within the Wake County John H. Baker Jr. Public Safety Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.

## Sheriffs of Wake County, North Carolina

List of sheriffs of Wake County, North Carolina :
| No. | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Party |
| 1 | Michael Rogers (1738 - 1797) | 1771 – 1774 | |
| 2 | Thomas Hines (? - 1808) | 1774 – 1777 | |
| 3 | Thomas Wooten (? - ?) | 1777 – 1780 | |
| 4 | Hardy Sanders (? - 1806) | 1780 – 1782 | |
| 5 | Britain Sanders (? - 1808) | 1782 – | |
| 6 | Nathaniel Jones (? - 1810) | 1785 – 1787 | |
| 7 | Tignal Jones (? - 1807) | 1787 – 1787 | |
| 8 | Tignal Jones, Jr. (? - 1824) | 1787 – 1788 | |
| 9 | John Hinton (? - ?) | 1788 – 1789 | |
| 10 | William Hinton (? - ?) | 1789 – 1790 | |
| 11 | John Davis (? - 1829) | 1790 – 1792 | |
| 12 | Richard Banks (? - ?) | 1792 – 1794 | |
| 13 | Lodwick Alford (? - ?) | 1794 – 1796 | |
| 14 | Samuel High (? - 1812) | 1796 – 1798 | |
| 15 | Jacob Bledsoe (? - ?) | 1798 – 1799 | |
| 16 | Lewis Bledsoe (? - 1831) | 1799 – 1800 | |
| 17 | David Justice (? - ?) | 1800 – 1801 | |
| 18 | John Davis (? - 1829) | 1801 – 1803 | |
| 19 | John Martin (? - 1833) | 1803 – 1804 | |
| 20 | John Davis (? - 1829) | 1804 – 1805 | |
| 21 | John Martin (? - 1833) | 1805 – 1806 | |
| 22 | Nathaniel (Crabtree) Jones (? - 1828) | 1806 – 1808 | Federalist |
| 23 | Willie Jones (? - 1846) | 1808 – 1810 | |
| 24 | John Grant Rencher (? - 1812) | 1810 – 1812 | |
| 25 | Matthew McCullers (? - 1825) | 1812 – 1814 | |
| 26 | Edward Pride (? - ?) | 1814 – 1815 | |
| 27 | Isaac Lane (? - ?) | 1815 – 1816 | Democratic-Republican |
| 28 | William Hinton (? - ?) | 1816 – 1817 | |
| 29 | Henry Moring (? - ?) | 1817 – 1819 | |
| 30 | Samuel Whitaker (? - 1857) | 1819 – 1821 | Democratic-Republican |
| 31 | Woodson Clements (? - 1837) | 1821 – 1823 | Democratic-Republican |
| 32 | Turner Pullen (? - 1867) | 1823 – 1825 | Whig |
| 33 | John Dunn (? - ?) | 1825 – 1827 | |
| 34 | William R. Hinton (? - 1839) | 1827 – 1832 | Democratic |
| 35 | Paschal B. Burt (? - 1859) | 1832 – 1840 | Democratic |
| 36 | James Edwards (? - 1847) | 1840 – 1847 | Democratic |
| 37 | Willis Scott (? - 1858) | 1847 – 1847 | Whig |
| 38 | Willie Pope (? - 1854) | 1847 – 1848 | Democratic |
| 39 | Calvin Jobe Rogers (? - 1876) | 1848 – 1850 | Whig |
| 40 | William Henderson High (1820 - 1897) | 1850 – 1865 | Democratic |
| 41 | John P. H. Russ (? - 1879) | 1865 – 1866 | Democratic |
| 42 | Erastus H. Ray (? - ?) | 1866 – 1868 | Democratic |
| 43 | Rufus King Ferrell (? - 1900) | 1868 – 1868 | Democratic |
| 44 | Timothy Francis Lee (? - 1912) | 1868 – 1874 | Republican |
| 45 | Sidney M. Dunn (? - 1891) | 1874 – 1876 | Democratic |
| 46 | Jeremiah James Nowell (? - 1882) | 1876 – 1882 | Republican |
| 47 | Jesse Robert Nowell (? - 1897) | 1882 – 1886 | Democratic |
| 48 | Julius Rowan Rogers (1843 - 1931) | 1886 – 1890 | Republican |
| 49 | Malcus Williamson Page (1835 - 1910) | 1890 – 1906 | Democratic |
| 50 | Joseph Haywood Sears (1872 - 1941) | 1906 – 1920 | Democratic |
| 51 | David Bryant Harrison (1861 - 1952) | 1920 – 1926 | Democratic |
| 52 | Numa Fletcher Turner (1877 - 1955) | 1926 – 1946 | Democratic |
| 53 | Robert James Pleasants (1913 - 1989) | 1946 – 1978 | Democratic |
| 54 | John Haywood Baker, Jr. (1935 - 2007) | 1978 – 2002 | Democratic |
| 55 | Donnie Harrison (b. 1946) | 2002 – 2018 | Republican |
| 56 | Gerald M. Baker | 2018 – 2022 | Democratic |
| 57 | Willie Rowe | 2022 – Incumbent | Democratic |