History

Sheriffs of Randolph County

The Sheriff (Shire-Reeve), as known today, originated in England over a thousand years ago. In the early days the Sheriff was the steward of the King's estates, guardian of the peace, judge and jury of the Shire County (county court) and was the local agent of the King in military affairs. The King also appointed him as the Chief Police Magistrate.

The Office of the Sheriff was first established in Virginia in early 1634. On October 9, 1662 the General Court of Virginia issued a commission to Captain Samuel Stephen "to be a Commander of the Southern Plantation" and authorized him to appoint a Sheriff. Although this was Virginia, the "Southern Plantation" was in a part of which would later become North Carolina. Hence, North Carolina has had a Sheriff in existence since 1662.

The settlers in 1736 thought that one Sheriff for the whole Colony was not enough and that there should be a system of Sheriffs as existed in England and Virginia. So in 1738 the Office of the Sheriff, as it is known today, was created in the Colony of North Carolina by the Governor. The Governor appointed the first Sheriffs in North Carolina to serve two-year terms.

In 1829 the Sheriff became an elected official while other county and municipal officials did not become elected until 1868. Thus the longest elected official position in North Carolina has been the Sheriff. In 1829 each county was broken down into a Captain's District, a minor division of the county for military purposes. From this time on the Sheriff was the Chief Law Enforcement Officer and for many years with the exception of the militia was the only law enforcement officer.

The First Randolph County Court met at Abraham Reece's house (between Brown's Cross Roads and Randleman) March 8, 1779. An act providing for formation of the county was read, William Bell was appointed the first Sheriff of Randolph County.

SheriffTermPartyRelated Information
William Bell1779 - 1782


John Coller1782 - 1784


William Pickett1784 - 1786


John Arnold1786 - 1788


Robert McLean1788 - 1790


Simeon Geron1790 - 1800


Isaac White1800 - 1826


Thomas Handcock1826 - 1827


George Hoover1827 - 1840


Isaac White1840 - 1846


Hezekiah Andrews1846 - 1850


J. W. Steed1850 - 1864
Democrat

Zebedee F. Rush1864 - 1868
Democrat

R. F. Trogdon1868 - 1872
Republican

W. R. Ashworth1872 - 1876
Republican

O. R. Cox1876 - 1878
Democrat

Benjamin Millikan1878 - 1880
Republican

E. A. Moffitt1880 - 1888
Democrat

J. S. Swaim1888 - 1892
Republican

Romulus R. Ross1892 - 1894
Democrat

G. G. Hendricks1894 - 1897
Republican

W. F. Redding1897 - 1899
Republican

E. C. Lassiter1900 - 1901
Democrat

W. F. Redding1901 - 1902
Republican

T. J. Finch1902 - 1906
Democrat

S. L. Hayworth1906 - 1910
Democrat

J. Wyatt Birkhead1910 - 1916
Democrat

John F. Hughes1916 - 1923
Republican

J. A. Brady1920 - 1922
Republican

A. Carl Cox1922 - 1924
Democrat

J. Ferree Cranford1924 - 1927
Republican

J. A. Brady1927 - 1928
Republican

William B. Millikan
1928 - 1930
Republican

Carl E. King
1930 - 1942
Democrat

Micajah Bingham
1942 - 1946
Republican

Benjamin Morgan
1946 - 1950
Democrat

Coble M. Maness
1950 - 1954
Republican

Wayne W. Wilson
1954 - 1962
Democrat
Resigned May 1962 to join US Treasury Department
William D. Bowman
1962 - 1962
Democrat
May 8 to December 8 Interim
Lloyd E. Brown
1962 - 1974
Republican

Carl O. Moore
1974 - 1978
Democrat

Robert Mason
1978 - 1989
Republican
Died in Office
Litchard D. Hurley
1989 - 2006
Republican

Maynard B. Reid, Jr.
2006 - 2016
Republican
Died in Office 1/5/16
Robert Graves
2016 - 2018
Republican
Appointed to fill Unexpired Term of Sheriff Reid
Gregory J. Seabolt
2018 - Current
Republican


The Office of Sheriff has changed dramatically from that of collecting taxes to a full-fledged comprehensive law enforcement agency and keeper of the County Jail and also provides for security of the County Courthouse.