Chapter 206 — Sheriffs
2011 EDITION
SHERIFFS
COUNTIES AND COUNTY OFFICERS
DUTIES OF SHERIFF
206.010 General
duties of sheriff
206.015 Qualifications
of sheriff; certification as police officer; determination of eligibility to be
candidate for election to office of sheriff
206.020 Keeping
records of and disposition of fees
206.030 Duty
to execute process and make return; taking concealed personal property; use of
force
206.040 Execution
of process and service of papers
206.050 Commanding
assistance in process serving
206.060 When
sheriff justified in executing process
206.070 Excusing
liability of sheriff in execution of process
206.080 Certificate
of election or appointment to new sheriff; service on former sheriff
206.090 Delivery
of jail, process and prisoners to new sheriff
206.100 Written
assignment of items delivered
206.110 Return
of process by former sheriff; completion of execution of process by successor;
duty of successor as to defective or lost deeds
206.120 Disposition
of money in custody when office vacant
206.180 Location
of sheriff’s office
206.210 Authority
of sheriff over organization of office
MISCELLANEOUS
206.310 Service
of papers on sheriff
206.315 Expenses
of sheriff in conveying convicts and persons with mental illness to state
institutions
206.325 Expenses
of sheriff in caring for property in custody
206.330 Sheriff
entitled to rewards
206.345 Contracts
with cities; authority under contract
UNIFORMS
206.355 Unauthorized
use of uniform prohibited
PENALTIES
206.991 Penalties
DUTIES OF SHERIFF
206.010 General duties of sheriff.
The sheriff is the chief executive officer and conservator of the peace of the
county. In the execution of the office of sheriff, it is the sheriff’s duty to:
(1)
Arrest and commit to prison all persons who break the peace, or attempt to
break it, and all persons guilty of public offenses.
(2)
Defend the county against those who, by riot or otherwise, endanger the public
peace or safety.
(3)
Execute the process and orders of the courts of justice or of judicial
officers, when delivered to the sheriff for that purpose, according to law.
(4)
Execute all warrants delivered to the sheriff for that purpose by other public
officers, according to law.
(5)
Attend, upon call, the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Oregon Tax Court,
circuit court, justice court or county court held within the county, and to
obey its lawful orders or directions. [Amended by 1985 c.339 §1]
206.015 Qualifications of sheriff;
certification as police officer; determination of eligibility to be candidate
for election to office of sheriff. (1) A person
is not eligible to be a candidate for election or appointment to the office of
sheriff unless:
(a)
The person is 21 years of age or older;
(b)
The person has at least four years’ experience as a full-time law enforcement
officer or at least two years’ experience as a full-time law enforcement
officer with at least two years’ post-high-school education; and
(c)
The person has not been convicted of a felony or of any other crime that would
prevent the person from being certified as a police officer under ORS 181.610
to 181.712.
(2)
As used in subsection (1) of this section, “two years’ post-high-school
education” means four semesters or six quarters of classroom education in a
formal course of study undertaken after graduation from high school in any
accredited college or university. The term does not include apprenticeship or
on-the-job training.
(3)
If the person is not certified as a police officer by the Department of Public
Safety Standards and Training at the time of accepting appointment or filing as
a candidate, a person elected or appointed to the office of sheriff must obtain
the certification not later than one year after taking office. A copy of the
certification shall be filed with the county clerk or the county official in
charge of elections. The county governing body shall declare the office of
sheriff vacant when the person serving as sheriff is not certified as a police
officer within one year after taking office.
(4)
The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, in consultation with
the Board on Public Safety Standards and Training, shall establish a procedure
for determining whether an individual is eligible under subsection (1) of this
section to be a candidate for election to the office of sheriff. A copy of the
department’s determination of an individual’s eligibility to be a candidate for
election to the office of sheriff shall be filed with the county clerk or
county official in charge of elections not later than the 61st day before the
date of the election. If the department determines that the individual is not
eligible to be a candidate for election to the office of sheriff, the county
clerk or county official in charge of elections shall not place the name of the
individual on the ballot at the election. [1971 c.299 §1; 1981 c.808 §5; 1987
c.484 §1; 1993 c.493 §87; 1997 c.853 §35]
206.020 Keeping records of and disposition
of fees. (1) Every sheriff shall keep in the
sheriff’s office a fee book or a system of receipts which shall be a public
record, and in which shall be entered promptly all items of services performed
and fees collected, with the name of the person for whom such services were
performed, and the amount collected.
(2)
The sheriff shall deposit each month with the county treasurer all such sums
collected by the sheriff during the month next preceding, except the sums
received for the care or preservation of property, and shall take the treasurer’s
duplicate receipts therefor, which receipts shall
specify the kind of service performed, for whom performed, and the amount
received for such service.
(3)
The sheriff shall immediately file one of the receipts with the county
accountant and, if there is no county accountant, with the county clerk. [Amended
by 1983 c.310 §1]
206.030 Duty to execute process and make
return; taking concealed personal property; use of force.
An officer to whom any process, order or paper is delivered shall execute or
serve it according to its command or direction, or as required by law, and must
make a written return of the execution or service thereof. If a sheriff is
directed by a court to take personal property into custody at a specific
premises, and the property is concealed in a building or enclosure, the sheriff
shall demand its delivery. If delivery is not made, the sheriff shall use such
reasonable force as is necessary to enter into the building or enclosure and
take the property into possession. [Amended by 2003 c.304 §1]
206.040 Execution of process and service
of papers. When any process, order or paper is
delivered to an officer, to be executed or served, the officer shall deliver to
the person delivering it, if required, on payment of the fee, a written
memorandum, specifying the names of the parties in the process, order or paper,
the general nature thereof and the day on which it was received. The officer
shall also, when required by law, or upon the request of the party served,
without fee, deliver to the party a copy thereof.
206.050 Commanding assistance in process
serving. (1) When an officer finds, or has
reason to apprehend, that resistance will be made to the execution or service
of any process, order or paper delivered to the officer for execution or
service, and authorized by law, the officer may command as many adult
inhabitants of the county of the officer as the officer may think proper and
necessary to assist the officer in overcoming the resistance, and if necessary,
in seizing, arresting and confining the resisters and their aiders and
abettors, to be punished according to law.
(2)
National Guard members are exempt from any service commanded under subsection
(1) of this section while they continue to be active members. [Amended by 1961
c.454 §209; 2007 c.255 §12]
206.060 When sheriff justified in
executing process. A sheriff is justified in the
execution of process regular on its face, and appearing to have been issued by
competent authority, whatever may be the defect in the proceedings in which it
was issued.
206.070 Excusing liability of sheriff in
execution of process. No direction or authority by a
party or the attorney of the party to a sheriff or the officer of the sheriff,
in respect to the execution of process or the return thereof, or to any act or
omission relating thereto, can be shown to discharge or excuse the sheriff from
a liability for neglect or misconduct, unless it is contained in a writing
signed by the party to be charged or affected thereby or the attorney of the
party.
206.080 Certificate of election or
appointment to new sheriff; service on former sheriff.
When a new sheriff is elected or appointed, and has qualified, the county clerk
shall give the new sheriff a certificate of that fact, under the seal of office
of the county clerk. Whenever thereafter the new sheriff is authorized by
statute to enter upon the duties of the office, the new sheriff shall serve
such certificate upon the former sheriff, from which time the powers of the
former sheriff cease, except when otherwise specially provided.
206.090 Delivery of jail, process and
prisoners to new sheriff. Within one day after the service
of the certificate referred to in ORS 206.080 upon the former sheriff, the
former sheriff shall deliver to the successor:
(1)
The jail of the county, with its appurtenances and the property of the county
therein.
(2)
The prisoners then confined in the county jail.
(3)
The process or other papers in the custody of the former sheriff, authorizing
or relating to the confinement of the prisoners, or if they have been returned,
a written memorandum of them and the time and place of their return.
(4)
All process for the arrest of a party, and all papers relating to the summoning
of jurors which have not been fully executed.
(5)
All executions and final process, except those which the former sheriff has
executed, or has begun to execute, by the collection of money or a levy on
property.
(6)
All process or other papers for the enforcement of a provisional remedy not
fully executed.
206.100 Written assignment of items
delivered. The former sheriff shall also at the
time referred to in ORS 206.090 deliver to the new sheriff a written assignment
of the property, process, papers and prisoners delivered. The new sheriff shall
thereupon acknowledge in writing, upon the assignment, the receipt of the
property, process, papers and prisoners therein specified, furnish the former
sheriff a certified copy thereof and file the original in the county clerk’s
office.
206.110 Return of process by former
sheriff; completion of execution of process by successor; duty of successor as
to defective or lost deeds. (1) The former sheriff shall
return all process, whether before or after judgment, which the former sheriff
has fully executed, and the new sheriff and the successor in office shall
complete the execution of all final process which the predecessor commenced and
did not complete.
(2)
In all cases where real property is sold under execution by any sheriff, and
the sheriff fails or neglects during the term of office of the sheriff, by
virtue of the expiration thereof, or otherwise, to make or execute a proper
sheriff’s deed conveying the property to the purchaser, or if through mistake
in its execution, or otherwise, any sheriff’s deed is inoperative, or if by
reason of the loss of an unrecorded sheriff’s deed, the purchaser, the heirs or
assigns or successors in interest of the purchaser desire the execution of
another sheriff’s deed, the sheriff in office at any time after the purchaser
is entitled to a deed shall execute such conveyance. When executed to cure or
replace a defective or lost deed such conveyance shall be to the grantee in the
defective or lost deed, but shall relate back and be deemed to take effect as
of the date of the execution of the defective or lost deed so as to inure to
the benefit of the heirs and assigns, or other successors in interest, of the
grantee named therein. Such conveyance so executed by the sheriff in office
shall have the same force and effect as if executed by the sheriff who made the
sale. [Amended by 2003 c.576 §395]
206.120 Disposition of money in custody
when office vacant. When the official term of office
of any sheriff ends by expiration of the term, death, resignation, removal from
office or otherwise, the money in the custody of the sheriff by virtue of the
office of the sheriff, belonging to the county or litigants, shall be turned
over immediately to the successor in office, and duplicate itemized receipts therefor immediately shall be filed with the county
treasurer.
206.130
[Renumbered 206.310]
206.140
[Renumbered 206.320]
206.150
[Renumbered 206.330]
206.160
[Renumbered 206.340]
206.170
[Repealed by 1963 c.331 §13]
206.180 Location of sheriff’s office.
The sheriff of each county shall keep an office in such room or building, at
the place appointed by law for holding courts therein, as the county court may
by order designate.
206.190
[Renumbered 206.350]
206.210 Authority of sheriff over
organization of office. Notwithstanding the provisions
of ORS 241.016 to 241.990 or any other county civil service law or regulation,
the sheriff may organize the work of the office of the sheriff so that:
(1)
The various duties required of the office may be assigned to appropriate
departments and divisions to be performed by persons experienced and qualified
for such respective kinds of work.
(2)
The duties of the various assistants, officers and deputies of the sheriff are
coordinated so that, when not engaged in a particular duty specified or
directed to be done and not then requiring attention, such persons shall
perform the other duties required of the office and then required to be done.
(3)
The cooperation among assistants, officers, deputies and employees in the
departments and divisions may be secured for the purposes of avoiding
duplication of time and effort. [1963 c.331 §2]
206.220 [1963
c.331 §3; repealed by 1981 c.48 §8]
206.230 [1963
c.331 §§4,6; repealed by 1981 c.48 §8]
206.240 [1963
c.331 §5; repealed by 1981 c.48 §8]
206.250 [1963
c.331 §7; repealed by 1981 c.48 §8]
206.300 [1971
c.453 §1; repealed by 1975 c.780 §16]
MISCELLANEOUS
206.310 Service of papers on sheriff.
Personal service of a paper upon the sheriff may be made by delivering it to a
person belonging to and in the office during office hours, or if no such person
is there, by leaving it in the office, or if the office is not open, by
delivering it to the county clerk or the deputy of the county clerk, at the
county clerk’s office. [Formerly 206.130]
206.315 Expenses of sheriff in conveying
convicts and persons with mental illness to state institutions.
(1) A sheriff is entitled to receive from the county the actual and necessary
expenses of the sheriff incurred in transporting and conveying convicts and
parole violators to a Department of Corrections institution and persons with
mental illness to a state mental hospital when conveyed by the sheriff in
pursuance of the adjudication of an authorized tribunal of the state, to be
audited and allowed as other claims against the county.
(2)
All counties are entitled to receive reimbursement from the state in the
amounts specified in subsection (3) of this section for the actual and
necessary expenses incurred by the sheriff under subsection (1) of this
section.
(3)
Reimbursement by the state under subsection (2) of this section shall be as
follows:
(a)
Full reimbursement for transporting and conveying persons with mental illness
to a state mental hospital.
(b)
Full reimbursement for returning a parole violator to the state penitentiary.
(c)
Seventy-five percent reimbursement for transporting and conveying a convict to
a Department of Corrections institution. [Formerly 204.421; 1987 c.320 §146;
2007 c.70 §55]
206.320
[Formerly 206.140; repealed by 2007 c.218 §6]
206.325 Expenses of sheriff in caring for
property in custody. A sheriff is entitled to claim
from the plaintiff or moving party in any account, action or proceeding such
reasonable sums of money as the sheriff may have been compelled to pay or incur
in the care of property in the custody of the sheriff, under attachment,
execution or proceedings for the claim and delivery of personal property. [Formerly
204.425]
206.330 Sheriff entitled to rewards.
The sheriff is entitled to demand and receive to the sheriff’s own use any
reward offered in pursuance of law for the apprehension of any person charged
with or suspected of crime, when the sheriff has earned the same by a
compliance with such offer. [Formerly 206.150]
206.340
[Formerly 206.160; repealed by 1981 c.808 §6]
206.345 Contracts with cities; authority
under contract. (1) A sheriff shall have
authority to enter into contracts, jointly with the governing body of the
county, on behalf of the county, as provided in ORS 190.010.
(2)
During the existence of the contract, the sheriff and the deputies of the
sheriff shall exercise such authority as may be vested in them by terms of the
contract, including full power and authority to arrest for violations of all
duly enacted ordinances of the contracting city. [1967 c.236 §1]
206.350
[Formerly 206.190; repealed by 1979 c.492 §1]
UNIFORMS
206.355 Unauthorized use of uniform
prohibited. No person other than a county sheriff,
person designated by a county sheriff, or regularly salaried sheriff’s deputy
shall wear, use, copy or imitate in any manner the uniform of that county
sheriff. [1979 c.492 §2]
206.360 [1967
c.258 §§1,2,3,4; repealed by 1979 c.492 §1]
PENALTIES
206.990
[Repealed by 1979 c.492 §1]
206.991 Penalties.
Violation of ORS 206.355 is a Class A misdemeanor. [1979 c.492 §3]
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