The Delaware Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday regarding whether or not county sheriffs have the power to arrest in the state.
Sussex County Sheriff Jeffrey Christopher contends the legislature “eviscerated” the powers of his office in 2012 when it passed a law stating he didn’t have the authority to arrest anyone.
Christopher says when the framers of Delaware’s latest constitution included the office in the document it wasn’t a fluke.
“They didn’t put the sheriff in the constitution as a conservator of the peace for nothing. They stuck it in there and enumerated it for the purposes of what their intent was and that was he was to be a conservator of the peace,” said Christopher following Wednesday's hearing before the state's highest court.
Christopher adds that role as one of the four conservators of the peace identified by the Delaware Constitution affords him arrest powers. The other conservators of the peace include judges and the Attorney General.
“We know what everybody’s role was, but nobody’s ready to admit what the role of the sheriff was," said Christopher. "So during the prohibition and during the times when the state police didn’t exist, the question is: who was in charge of arresting people to bring them to that jurisprudence?”
A Superior Court judge dismissed that argument in March, saying the constitution recognizes the office, but doesn’t bestow any powers to it.
The Supreme Court will now deliberate the case and render their decision in the coming weeks.
