Ask a Sheriff

[HiPowered]

It's a good job. The daily experience depends greatly on where you work. In large venues like Edmonton, you're more likely to spend longer times in specialised areas within the courthouse - specifically working in Courts, Escorts or Cells. In smaller venues, you'll typically do a little bit of everything throughout the day or week.

How interesting you find it depends on you. I find the law and the justice system really interesting, so I found courts to be enjoyable. Some people can't stand being in a courtroom, so they find that role very tedious.

You're right to guess that you'd probably be spending time in CSPT (Court Security & Prisoner Transport) before moving into specialized units, but if you're interested in the Edmonton or Calgary areas there are also positions in the Legislature and Government Center security units who are outside of the courthouses. Some people find Leg positions more interesting, as you can spend more time outdoors and interacting with the public.

[rookie sheriff]

I personally worked in the rural court areas and quite enjoyed them. In the major centers (HIPOWER correct me if I am wrong) you are mainly assigned to one area of responsibility for a set period of time, however you may cover off breaks or days off for people etc. So you would be working mainly in cells, escorts, courts, etc for a duration. For me personally, I would get bored with this. In the rural areas, a typical day involves all of the above. For example, Hinton covers Edson, Jasper, Grande Cache, and Fox Creek court houses. Depending on the day of the week, a different courthouse is sitting, so you would have to attend there. On the way you may have to do a prisoner transfer from a local detachment or have to pick up your prisoners for court. At the end of the day, you may be releasing prisoners or returning them to the detachment or a city escort team may meet you. You may also have fresh arrests from the court house. If you are not assigned to do Courts that day (Hinton is a 5 man office last i checked) then you may be going to the other detachment areas and picking up the prisoners from the RCMP arrests or driving to the BC border to meet the BC Sheriffs and taking custody of out of province transfers. Some days (Fridays you will probably have little to do and we usually rotated for leaving early. Your relationship with the RCMP members gets to be fairly good in the detachment areas you service. You may even meet your future wife...... Some of your opportunities for Acting time etc are a bit easier to get as you don't necessarily have 80 staff members in the office. Any questions drop me a PM.

[modi13]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm starting to think it's something I'd like to do.
Can courthouse sheriffs observe cases, or do they normally only go into the courtroom only when there's a disturbance? I'm a CPO2 right now, so I go to court fairly often, and I find the proceedings pretty interesting. Are the prisoner transport positions completely separate from court security? Do the officers from larger centres get to go out to circuit points, like Canmore and Okotoks for Calgary, or is that more the case for smaller courts?

[HiPowered]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm starting to think it's something I'd like to do.
Can courthouse sheriffs observe cases, or do they normally only go into the courtroom only when there's a disturbance? I'm a CPO2 right now, so I go to court fairly often, and I find the proceedings pretty interesting. Are the prisoner transport positions completely separate from court security? Do the officers from larger centres get to go out to circuit points, like Canmore and Okotoks for Calgary, or is that more the case for smaller courts?

Depends on location. In my experience, in smaller courthouses, every courtroom running criminal trials or dockets will have a sheriff in it. Civil courts typically won't, and family courts will typically only have one if there's a high risk of a disturbance. In larger centers, the Sheriff's presence in the courtroom will be determined by agreed upon planning between the courts staff and Sheriff management, but it typically follows a similar pattern. On any given day, there are hundreds of Sheriffs spending the whole day in courtrooms throughout Alberta. So yep, we spend a lot of time in courtrooms!

The division between transport and courts is also location dependent. In some places, they rotate officers on an annual basis. In some, you may be doing courts/transport/cells on a daily or weekly basis. Circuit points are also determined locally. Rotation into smaller centers can be annual, or more frequently.

There is some variety to the job. It isn't as broad as policing, but we have areas we move between, and if you're flexible on location you could theoretically move around the province and try different things. There are also the specialty units, but I wouldn't explicitly plan on entering one because positions and funding are unpredictable.

PM me as well if you'd like.

[GeeGee]

got the verbal job offer ... now waiting on the email so excited!!!

[rookie sheriff]

Congrats ^^^^^

[GeeGee]

Congrats ^^^^^

thanks bro

[Warren21]

got the verbal job offer ... now waiting on the email so excited!!!

Do you know where ur going ?

[GeeGee]

got the verbal job offer ... now waiting on the email so excited!!!

Do you know where ur going ?

just signed my papers ...going to Calgary...it was my first choice

[rookie sheriff]

NOOOOOOOOOOO....Nobody likes the South guys...... Just Kidding. Beautiful new courthouse for sure. Congrats again.

[GeeGee]

NOOOOOOOOOOO....Nobody likes the South guys...... Just Kidding. Beautiful new courthouse for sure. Congrats again.

south guys are fond of south guys hahaha ya the courthouse is nice and I know many guys that work out of there...in 4 years as a CO at the remand it is nice to finally make the transition and reunite with some friends. im super excited to be part of this family.

to people still in the process...dont lose hope...chin up and dont give up

[rookie sheriff]

I had the opportunity to work at the new courthouse for a couple weeks when it first opened many years ago. Its a beautiful courthouse. I know many South guys and girls and they are top notch..... they just like the wrong hockey team. But then again apparently so do I, since I am from Ontario originally.

[tenacity]

Verbal for Edmonton Law Courts pending successful psych evaluation.

[rookie sheriff]

Verbal for Edmonton Law Courts pending successful psych evaluation.

Don't tell them that you lick paint

[GeeGee]

Verbal for Edmonton Law Courts pending successful psych evaluation.

congrats bro!!! sucks that u r with the NORTH guys lol jkiiiing...i gotta tell my sergeants today about me leaving...sweaty palms