Chief Deputy is a rank/title used in American/

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

. The position of chief deputy is primarily found within

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

's offices throughout the United States, and also exists for marshals’ police departments as well as

constables A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

’ departments. A chief deputy may serve as the senior ranking officer below the sheriff, or below an undersheriff if that rank/title exists within an agency. Chief deputies may also be above undersheriffs depending on the sheriff's department, and in some cases the titles are synonymously used to describe the same individual.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the individual(s) with this rank vary between agencies. However, the vast majority of departments employ the title for one of two roles, either the second-highest member of the department tasked with day-to-day operations (similar to a

chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the b ...

in agencies with a non-elected chief executive) or the commander of a large organizational element within the agency (called a "bureau" or "division" in most departments). Below is a list of selected agencies that use the title and information regarding their use of the rank: : Police ranks American deputy sheriffs {{gov-job-stub