The Importance of the County Sheriff

Our Founding Director, Paul Fiske, has been asked many times why The Sheriff Project is so important. If you have been to our recent meetings I am sure you will have heard the topic brought up at least once. Well, a member of the organization named Donna Fike sent out an email explaining why a the county sheriff is so important and thus why the Sheriff Project in general is so important. Here is her email:

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I have been questioned as to why this Sheriff Mack Event is so important… I thought that maybe a few more people have had similar thoughts. My experience has been that not many know what a sheriff is supposed to do….. Let me explain.

A sheriff is elected by the people, he works for the people. He is the ONLY elected Law officer, as such he is the Supreme Law officer of the county and he works for and is accountable to "We the People". He does not take orders from any one - except "the People" to whom he is accountable. Within the boundary of the county a sheriff has more power than the President of the United States.

Let me share this example to make the point of how much power a sheriff has.

The Alcohol, Tobacco, and Toilet Takers (AT&TT) come to your county and declare it is now illegal to own a toilet. "They" will be removing all toilets from the county this week!

The people say "We don’t want you to take our toilets, we like our toilets."

The AT&TT say, "Too bad we are here to take them!"

After some debate about the fact that the Constitution does not prohibit the owning and use of toilets, but protects the ownership of property; we are free to have them. The sheriff is called. The people explain to the sheriff the situation and remind him that it is not against the Constitution to own a toilet, and he needs to step in and make "them" go away.

It is the responsibility of the Sheriff to protect the people. He works for the people! He, as the Sheriff has the power and authority given to him by "The People" to tell the ‘Toilet Takers’ that "The People have spoken, they will be keeping their toilets!" Now they, as the AT&TT have a choice, they can peacefully leave the county without any toilets or they may sit in the county jail. It is their choice.

"We the people" need to keep in mind that we have responsibilities in supporting the Sheriff in the execution of his duty. We need to ‘have his back’, he needs to know that he does not stand alone, we are standing with him to protect our God given rights as outlined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

It does not matter what entity it is that comes to the county, whether they be Federal, State, International, or a Local government agency. It is the Sheriff’s duty to work for the people! To "Protect and defend" the Constitution. They swear an Oath to do so. We need sheriffs in each county that understand their duty, and has the intestinal fortitude to follow thru and uphold his Oath to the Constitution in his capacity as Sheriff.

Written by, Donna Fike 10/3/09