Opinion ID: 76238
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Georgia's Governmental Structure

Text: 25 Georgia's Constitution has created the sheriff's office as an elected constitutional office in Georgia's governmental hierarchy. Ga. Const. art. IX, § 1, ¶ 1. The sheriff's office is not a division or subunit of Clinch County or its county governing body, and, thus, it is not a structural part of Clinch County government. See id.; Ga. Const. art. IX, § 2, ¶ 1(c)(1). Rather, the sheriff's office is a separate constitutional office independent from Clinch County and its governing body. See Ga. Const. art. IX, § 2, ¶ 1(c)(1). 26 Further, Georgia's Constitution grants the State legislature the exclusive authority to establish and to control a sheriff's powers and duties. Ga. Const. art. IX, § 1, ¶ 3(a)-(b). 11 Interpreting this constitutional provision, the Georgia Supreme Court has explained that sheriffs are subject to the control of the Georgia legislature and are not county employees. Bd. of Comm'rs of Randolph County v. Wilson, 260 Ga. 482, 482, 396 S.E.2d 903 (1990) (The sheriff ... is an elected, constitutional officer; he is subject to the charge of the General Assembly and is not an employee of the county commission.); see Chaffin v. Calhoun, 262 Ga. 202, 203, 415 S.E.2d 906 (1992); Warren v. Walton, 231 Ga. 495, 499-500, 202 S.E.2d 405 (1973). 27 In contrast to the State's authority and control over sheriffs, Georgia's Constitution grants counties no legislative power or authority over sheriffs and expressly prevents counties from controlling or affecting the sheriff's office or the personnel thereof. 12 Ga. Const. art. IX, § 2, ¶ 1(c)(1). In this regard, the Georgia Supreme Court has concluded that this constitutional restriction on the legislative power granted to counties-home rule-prevents counties from taking action affecting the sheriff's office. Warren, 231 Ga. at 499, 202 S.E.2d 405; 13 see Stephenson v. Bd. of Comm'rs of Cobb County, 261 Ga. 399, 401-02, 405 S.E.2d 488 (1991). As a result, counties exercise no authority or control over the sheriff's force policy, whether in making arrests on the streets or in quelling disruptive inmates at the jail. 28 Further, in Georgia, counties also do not delegate any of their governmental or police powers to sheriffs. Instead, the sheriffs' authority and duties are derived directly from the State. That counties delegate no power or authority to sheriffs further explains why counties have no authority or control over them and why the sheriff is not a subunit or division of county government. 29 Georgia law likewise makes the county entity itself, here Clinch County, a separate entity independent of the sheriff's office. Under Georgia law, Clinch County is a body corporate capable of suing and being sued and is headed by the county governing authority. Ga. Const. art. IX, § 1, ¶ 1 (Each county shall be a body corporate and politic with such governing authority ... as provided by law.); O.C.G.A. §§ 36-1-3 (Every county is a body corporate, with power to sue or be sued in any court.), 1-3-3(7) (defining County governing authority as the board of county commissioners, the sole county commissioner, or the governing authority of a consolidated government). As a separate entity, Clinch County is headed by its Board of Commissioners, which is given exclusive jurisdiction over and control of county affairs. Ga. Laws 1933, p. 467, § 29. In contrast, under Georgia's Constitution, the State has exclusive authority and control over the duties and affairs of the sheriff's office. Although the State requires the county to fund the sheriff's budget, Georgia's Constitution precludes the county from exercising any authority over the sheriff, including how the sheriff spends that budget. Ga. Const. art. IX, § 2, ¶ 1(c)(1); Chaffin v. Calhoun, 262 Ga. 202, 203-04, 415 S.E.2d 906 (1992); see Boswell v. Bramlett, 274 Ga. 50, 52, 549 S.E.2d 100 (2001). 30 The separate and distinct nature of Sheriff Peterson's office and Clinch County, and their independence from each other, are further demonstrated by how Georgia law treats sheriffs' employees. Sheriffs alone hire and fire their deputies. See O.C.G.A. § 15-16-23. Deputies, including those serving as jailers, are employees of the sheriff and not the county. Warren, 231 Ga. at 499, 202 S.E.2d 405 (recognizing that [d]eputy sheriffs and deputy jailors are employees of the sheriff, whom the sheriffs alone are entitled to appoint or discharge) (quotation marks omitted); Drost v. Robinson, 194 Ga. 703, 710, 22 S.E.2d 475 (1942); Brown v. Jackson, 221 Ga.App. 200, 201, 470 S.E.2d 786 (1996) (noting deputy sheriffs were employees of the sheriff and not Peach County); Wayne County v. Herrin, 210 Ga. App. 747, 751, 437 S.E.2d 793 (1993); Pettus v. Smith, 174 Ga.App. 587, 588, 330 S.E.2d 735 (1985); see Boswell, 274 Ga. at 51, 549 S.E.2d 100 ([E]mployees of constitutionally elected officers of a county are considered employees of the elected officer and not employees of the county, as represented by the local governing authority.); Mobley v. Polk County, 242 Ga. 798, 801-02, 251 S.E.2d 538 (1979). 14 31 Because sheriffs are elected by county voters, it is not surprising that Georgia's Constitution labels sheriffs as county officers. Ga. Const. art. IX, § 1, ¶ 3(a). But, given how Georgia's Constitution also makes the sheriff's office a constitutional office independent from the county entity itself, precludes all county control, and grants only the State control over sheriffs, this county officer nomenclature necessarily reflects a geographic label defining the territory in which a sheriff is elected and mainly operates. It is entirely consistent for sheriffs to be independent of the county government and to be subject to State, not county, control but to be called county officers to reflect their geographic jurisdiction in the State. 32 Having established that Sheriff Peterson's office is independent from Clinch County and its governing authority and that only the State controls and grants powers and duties to sheriffs, we next examine the functions of the sheriff's office under Georgia law. The specific tasks that sheriffs perform also shed considerable light on the character of the sheriff's office under Georgia law.