Chief Deputy is a rank/title used in American/

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

. 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, the , which is common ...

's offices throughout the United States, and also exists for

marshals Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated of ...

’ police departments as well as

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

’ departments. A chief deputy may serve as the senior ranking officer below the sheriff, or below an

undersheriff An undersheriff (or under-sheriff) is an office derived from ancient Kingdom of England, English custom that remains in, among other places, England and Wales and the United States, though performing different functions. United States In Policing ...

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 A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the command hierarchy, chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or somet ...

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: :

References

Police ranks American deputy sheriffs {{gov-job-stub