Chief deputy

Chief Deputy is a rank/title used in American/Canadian law enforcement. The position of chief deputy is primarily found within sheriff's offices throughout the United States, and also exists for marshals’ police departments as well as constables’ departments. A chief deputy may serve as the senior ranking officer below the sheriff, or below an undersheriff if that rank/title exists within an agency.^[1]^[2] 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[edit]

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 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:


Agency	Insignia	Responsibilities
Fairfax County Sheriff's Office		Two personnel, each commands one of two bureaus.
Kern County Sheriff's Office		There are four personnel with the rank, each in charge of a Bureau.
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office		Second-in-Command of the agency.
San Francisco Sheriff's Office		Commands a Division within the agency.
United States Marshals Service	None	Second-in-Command of one of 94 judicial districts, each of which has a United States Marshal.