High sheriff

A High Sheriff is a ceremonial officer for each shrieval county of England and Wales and Northern Ireland or the chief sheriff of a number of paid sheriffs in U.S. states who outranks and commands the others in their court-related functions.

The office existed in what is now the Republic of Ireland but was abolished there in 1926.

In England and Wales, the term High Sheriff arose to distinguish sheriffs of counties proper from sheriffs of cities and boroughs designated "counties-of-themselves" but not counties properly speaking. These cities and boroughs no longer have sheriffs except for the City of London, so now all English and Welsh sheriffs except the sheriffs of the City of London are high sheriffs. The office is now an unpaid privilege with ceremonial duties, the sheriffs being appointed annually by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council except in Cornwall, where the high sheriff is appointed by the Duke of Cornwall. In England and Wales the office's civil (civil judgement) enforcement powers exist but are not exercised by convention. The office was termed that of sheriff until 1 April 1974, except in the City of London, which has two Sheriffs of the City of London.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the high sheriff (or in the City of London the sheriffs) is/are theoretically the sovereign's judicial representative in the county, while the Lord Lieutenant is the sovereign's personal and military representative. Their jurisdictions, the "shrieval counties", are no longer co-terminous with administrative areas, representing a mix between the ancient counties and more recent local authority areas. The post contrasts with that of sheriff in Scotland, who is a judge sitting in a sheriff court.

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