In the United States of America, the role of a sheriff varies drastically between different states and counties. The bailiff is usually an official of the county, the executor of the county court. In urban areas, some sheriffs may be restricted to these court duties, such as county jail supervision, courtroom security, detainee transportation, warrant service, process service, or police administration. . Sheriffs may also patrol outside city/town limits or jurisdiction. In many rural areas, sheriffs and their deputies are the primary form of policing. It has become increasingly important to be able to differentiate between typical police officers and the sheriff’s office. The iconic sheriff’s uniform does that very job, as it’s usually markedly different from the traditional police uniform.

Unlike the traditional dark blue uniform of most law enforcement agencies, sheriffs and deputies often wear a two-tone uniform combination, either lighter khaki on top and darker brown on the bottom. or vice versa. The shirts are a button-down uniform shirt, either short-sleeved or long-sleeved and often have a shoulder patch reading “SHERIFF” across the top in some way. The pants usually have a stripe taped to the outer seams. Sheriff’s uniforms also often include normal uniform accessories, such as a gold-colored seven-point metal badge and a gold dog tag.

The reason for the mixed light/dark combination of sheriff uniforms has a lot to do with color psychology. As Richard R. Johnson, MS says in his report “The Psychological Influence of the Police Uniform”, there was an experiment that featured test subjects wearing 2 types of paramilitary uniforms. One was the traditional dark blue worn by most law enforcement agencies and the other was a khaki shirt and dark green pants traditionally worn by California sheriffs. Although both uniforms scored similarly good, honest, helpful, and competent, the lighter-colored sheriff’s uniform scored notably higher in warmth and friendliness. What they deduced from these results was that a uniform that is only half dark sends a better message than an all blue/black uniform.

Sheriffs have served and protected English-speaking peoples for a thousand years and over those many years, the uniforms have changed and are universally as unique as individual sheriffs across the country. While some sheriff uniforms follow this traditional brown/tan color combination, others use other combinations of browns and greens or all greens or grays.

Whatever the color of his uniform, a sheriff is usually, but not always, the highest police officer in a county. As Thomas Jefferson wrote in his THE VALUE OF THE CONSTITUTIONS, “the Sheriff’s Office is the most important of all the county executive offices.” The Sheriff’s office is certainly important, and in fact, it was the first county office established in the United States. Some very prominent Americans have held the office of county sheriff, from the earliest days to our present era.