Sheriff’s Office

Giles County Sheriff’s Department

The four major responsibilities of the Sheriff of Giles County, Tennessee, are:

Keeping the Peace

The Sheriff is the conservator of the peace, and it is the Sheriff’s duty to suppress all affrays, riots, routs, unlawful assemblies, insurrections, or other breaches of the peace. In addition, it is the duty of the Sheriff to ferret out, detect, and prevent crime, to secure evidence of crimes; and to apprehend and arrest criminals. The Sheriff is also charged with patrolling the roads of the county. The Sheriff must furnish the necessary deputies to carry out these duties. By Tennessee law, the Sheriff is the commander in chief of the law forces of the county.

Attending the courts

The Sheriff’s office must attend upon all the courts held in the county when in session, cause the courthouse or courtroom to be kept in order for the accommodation of the courts and obey the lawful orders and directions of the court. It is the duty of the Sheriff to provide sufficient bailiffs to serve the general sessions courts. The Sheriff is charged with the custody and security of the courthouse. It is  the duty of the Sheriff to see that the state and national flags are properly displayed in each courtroom while the county legislative body is in session. Furthermore, it is the duty of the Sheriff to furnish the necessary deputies and special deputies to attend and dispense with the business of the juvenile courts.

Serving the Process and Orders of the Courts

It is the duty of the Sheriff to execute and return, according to law, the process and orders of the courts of record of Tennessee and of officers of competent authority, with due diligence, when delivered to the Sheriff for that purpose. It is the duty of the Sheriff to execute within Giles County all writs and other process legally issued and directed to the Sheriff and make due return thereof, either personally or by a lawful deputy or, in civil lawsuits only, by a lawfully appointed civil process server. It is the duty of the Sheriff to levy every writ of execution upon a defendant’s property, first on the defendant’s goods and chattels if there are any and upon the  defendant’s lands in order to satisfy the plaintiff’s judgment, and upon a surety’s property in the proper case.

Operating the Jail

The Giles County Sheriff, by virtue of his office, is the jailor and is entitled to the custody of the jail. It is the duty of the Sheriff to take charge and custody of the jail in Giles County and of the prisoners therein. The Sheriff is charged with receiving those persons lawfully committed to the jail and with keeping them personally or by deputies or jailer until they are lawfully discharged. It is the duty of the Sheriff to be constantly at the jail or have someone present with the keys to liberate the prisoners in case of fire.

For more information about the jail or to search for inmates, click HERE.

NOTICE REGARDING MISDEMEANOR PROBATION: Under a federal consent decree entered by the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on January 13, 2022: (1) the Giles County Sheriff’s Department has recalled and will not enforce arrest warrants for violation of misdemeanor probation that were issued prior to January 13, 2022; and (2) the Giles County Circuit Court Clerk has waived collection of court debt (fines and fees) for misdemeanor convictions prior to January 13, 2022.

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