Sheriff's powers clarified by state

Gov. Ruth Ann Minner has signed into law House Bill 154, which was designed to clarify “the responsibilities of the State Police and local police, and deletes an outdated reference to sheriff.”

The amendment to Title 11 of the Delaware Code states that: “The State Police shall be the primary law-enforcement agency within the State. The State Police shall have exclusive jurisdiction, excluding the incorporated limits of any municipality maintaining an established police department, for police investigations…”

Further, the law indicates that “State Police shall have all powers and jurisdiction to enforce all county noise ordinances duly enacted in the unincorporated areas of Kent County and Sussex County.”

There is no reference at all to the office of sheriff in the new language of Title 11. The change comes on the heels of years of controversy over the office of the Sussex County Sheriff, which unlike the county sheriffs in many other states holds no official law-enforcement role.

Former Sussex County Sheriff Robert Reed asserted that his office, and his deputies, should — and did — have law-enforcement powers. State lawmakers, and the Sussex County Chiefs Council, begged to differ, setting the state’s legislative bodies into action to resolve the dispute.

Despite two rulings from then-Attorney General Jane Brady, Reed had contended for years that the Delaware constitution granted the sheriff’s office law-enforcement powers and wording in Title 11 appeared to justify the assertion.

Before HB 154 was enacted, in Chapter 2 of Title 11, the definition of a “law-enforcement officer” included “sheriffs and their regular deputies.” A section of Chapter 83 of Title 11 of Delaware’s code stated that “state police should have powers similar to those of sheriffs.”

However, according to Sussex County’s Web site, the sheriff’s office only “serves papers for the courts and holds Sheriff’s sales for non-payment of taxes, mortgage foreclosures plus all other court orders,” though the sheriff and his deputies also transport prisoners, according to Reed.

Several incidents that involved deputies serving under Reed brought into question whether the sheriff’s office is among of the state’s law-enforcement agencies. In the summer of 2006, one of Reed’s deputies allegedly responded to a crime on the west side of the county, sparking elevated dialogue on the issue.

In June of 2006, Georgetown Police Chief William Topping, who headed the Chiefs Council, wrote a letter of censure to Reed on the subject.

“The Sussex County Chiefs Council has voted to censure the actions of the Sussex County Sheriff. The Chief’s Council feels that our respective jurisdictions do not require the assistance of the Sheriff’s office,” wrote Topping. “He and his deputies are not trained as police officers and should not act as police officers.”

Reed took offense to the latter statement and said it could put his deputies at risk in the field.

“Who will be liable if one of these armed and trained Deputy Sheriffs, while performing their duties with a town’s limit, happens upon a felony in progress against a citizen of Sussex County?” Reed asked in the letter. “Should the Deputy Sheriff ignore the situation (as implied by Chief Topping’s letter) or should he or she act to prevent a crime or even possibly save a life?”

Contrasting Reed’s assertions was his opponent in the November 2006 elections for the sheriff’s post. Democrat Eric Swanson — a former state police officer and high school teacher — made it clear in his campaign for the office that he did not plan to personally pursue full-service law enforcement duties for the sheriff’s office.

That may have played a significant part in Reed’s ouster by voters in November, when Swanson won with more than 53 percent of the vote. Swanson said he is open to discussion of the issue, however, and, as a two-decade state police officer, is not against the idea.

“If the council wants that, I’m the man that can take them in that direction,” Swanson told the Coastal Point in November, adding that he will ask for more deputies for courtroom security. “(But) nobody can make demands on them. You have to form a partnership and work with them. That’s what hasn’t been happening.”