Lafayette County Sheriff's Department (Mississippi)
The Lafayette County Sheriff's Department is the law enforcement agency responsible for the policing and maintenance of public order of Lafayette County, Mississippi. Responsible for maintenance and administration of its jail, the Lafayette County Detention Center in Oxford, Mississippi, it is also their duty to stand as guards of Lafayette County's County and Chancery Courts. The Department has jurisdiction over the entire county, which encompasses an area of , 7% of which is water. They are also the primary law enforcement agency for all locales excluding Oxford. Such towns such as Abbeville and  Taylor, and unincorporated villages of Denmark, Lafayette Springs, Tula and Yocona. The department works in tandem with the Oxford Police Department and The University of Mississippi's University Police Department to maintain public order in Oxford and University, Mississippi. As of September 2018 the department employs 26 full-time deputies. They also have other staff employed as guards for the county jail. In comparison, Oxford Police Department, which patrols a small fraction of the area done by the Sheriff's Department, employs over 75 full-time officers. F.D. "Buddy" East was the long-time sheriff, who held the office from  1972 until his death in September 2018, having been elected to twelve terms as sheriff. He was the longest serving Sheriff in the history of the state, holding the position for 46 years. It was a unique situation in Lafayette County in that the sheriff's son, Joey East, was concurrently the Oxford Police Department's Chief of Police. And now after current elections in November 2019, Joey East follows his father’s legacy and is now the sheriff of Lafayette County. </ref>