Colonel William A. Phillips

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The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) is the primary law enforcement agency within Loudoun County, Virginia and is the largest Sheriff's Office in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The agency is currently headed by Sheriff Michael L. Chapman who was last re-elected in 2019.

Potential Transition to Police Department

Shortly after being re-elected in 2019, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Phyllis Randall proposed transitioning policing to a new police department while the sheriff would only be responsible for court related duties as is done in Prince William County and Fairfax County. Randall said the reason she proposed this is "I just simply don’t believe that law enforcement should be political."[1] However, Sheriff Michael L. Chapman has stated that "[Loudoun Residents] are happy with the service they are getting, and it’s almost like, 'Why is there going to be a move to try and fix something that’s not broken?' it just seems to me to be a matter of just exercising power and control."[2]

In 2012, the Board of Supervisors asked for a report about a potential transition and the commission responsible strongly recommended keeping the current system citing decreased state funding due to low crime rates and the idea that a police chief would be equally political when appointed.[3]

To implement a police department a referendum is required and must be approved by voters in the county and enacted by the Virginia General Assembly.[4][5]

In 2022, the Board of Supervisors announced that it would no longer seek the transition following an extensive report on the subject was released by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The report recommended that the transition not go forward due to several reasons, including the cost (estimated to be between $200 and $300 million), the LCSO's very high satisfaction rates among county citizens, and the low crime rate of the county.[6]

List of sheriffs

List of sheriffs of Loudoun County, Virginia
Number Portrait Name Term Party Electoral History
1st Aeneas Campbell 1757
–
Unknown 		Independent Appointed in 1757

at the creation of Loudoun County[7][8]

Unknown Elijah Viers White 1867
–
Unknown 		Independent Elected 1867[9]
Unknown Thomas W. Edwards January 1, 1908
–
December 31, 1923 		Independent Elected 1907

Re-elected 1911

Re-elected 1915

Re-elected 1919

Unknown Eugene Adrian 1930s Independent Elected 1931[10][11]
Unknown S. Paul Alexander January 1, 1940
–
June 5, 1951 		Democratic Elected 1939[12]

Re-elected 1943[13]

Re-elected 1947

Resigned[14]

Unknown Carroll S. Hutchison June 6, 1951
–
December 31, 1951 		Independent Appointed[15][16]
Unknown Roger Franklin Powell January 1, 1952
–
December 31, 1959 		Democratic Elected in 1951[10]

Re-elected in 1955

Lost re-election

Unknown Maurice "Max" Dwyer January 1, 1960
–
December 31, 1963 		Democratic Elected in 1959[10]
Unknown Robert Willis Legard January 1, 1964
–
December 31, 1979 		Democratic Elected 1963[17]

Re-elected 1967

Re-elected 1971

Re-elected 1975

Lost re-election[18]

Unknown Donald L. Lacy January 1, 1980
–
December 31, 1983 		Republican Elected in 1979[19]

Retired[20]

Unknown John R. Isom January 1, 1984
–
December 31, 1995 		Democratic Elected in 1983[21]

Re-elected in 1987

Re-elected in 1991[22]

Lost re-election

Unknown Stephen O'Neil Simpson January 1, 1996
–
December 31, 2011 		Republican Elected in 1995[23]

Re-elected in 1999[24]

Re-elected in 2003[25]

Re-elected in 2007[26]

Lost re-election

Unknown Michael Louis Chapman January 1, 2012
–
present 		Republican Elected in 2011[27]

Re-elected in 2015[28]

Re-elected in 2019[29]

Re-elected in 2023

See also

References

  1. ^ Cline, Nathaniel (November 6, 2019). "New elected officials take the stage in Loudoun County; Randall expects new board to discuss county police department". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  2. ^ Cline, Nathaniel (November 8, 2019). "Loudoun County sheriff calls police department proposal 'a matter of exercising power and control'". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  3. ^ "Loudoun County Government Reform Commission Memorandum". November 1, 2012.
  4. ^ "§ 15.2-1702. Referendum required prior to establishment of county police force". law.lis.virginia.gov.
  5. ^ Cline, Nathaniel (December 26, 2019). "Questions and answers about a potential Loudoun County Police Department". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  6. ^ "Loudoun Co. won't pursue police department; chair seeks to raise state bar for future sheriffs". WTOP News. 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  7. ^ Yudd, Charles (April 5, 2022). "Presentation of Loudoun County Police Department Study". Loudoun.gov.
  8. ^ "Loudoun County Court Complex Collection 1833-1993". LeesburgVA.gov. 13 July 2011.
  9. ^ "Confederate Officer - Visit Loudoun - Elijah White". www.visitloudoun.org.
  10. ^ a b c Scheel, Eugene (2001-09-02). "Sheriff and Storyteller, Roger Powell Kept Little-Known Pieces of the Past Alive". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
  11. ^ Wadsworth, Chris (2020-10-04). "Deadly shooting 88 years ago shocked Loudoun". The Burn.
  12. ^ "Loudoun News, Volume 3, Number 48". Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia. 9 November 1939.
  13. ^ "Loudoun News, Volume 7, Number 48". Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia. 4 November 1943.
  14. ^ "Loudoun News, Volume 15, Number 20". Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia. 7 June 1951.
  15. ^ "Minute Book 02-05-1945 thru 02-03-1953.pdf" (PDF). Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. pp. 359, 362, 365, 370, 374, 379.
  16. ^ "Loudoun News, Volume 15, Number 29". Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia. 9 August 1951.
  17. ^ Owens, Crystal (Jun 16, 2010). "Former Loudoun County Sheriff Legard dies". Loudoun Times-Mirror.
  18. ^ Mike, Sager (February 26, 1983). "Controversial Sheriff Of Loudoun County Won't Seek Reelection". The Washington Post.
  19. ^ Bruske, Ed; Boodman (1981-10-07). "Loudoun County Sheriff Under Investigation on -Misconduct Allegations". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
  20. ^ Sager, Mike (September 12, 1983). "Sheriff Is a Hot Issue In Loudoun Campaign". The Washington Post.
  21. ^ Cocroft, Anne (1984-01-12). "Loudoun's New Sheriff Working Hard". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
  22. ^ "Loudoun County November 5, 1991 General Election Results".
  23. ^ "Loudoun County November 7, 1995 General and Special Elections Results".
  24. ^ "Loudoun County November 2, 1999 General and Special Elections Results".
  25. ^ "Loudoun County November 4, 2003 General and Special Elections Results".
  26. ^ "Loudoun County November 6, 2007 General and Special Elections Results".
  27. ^ "Loudoun County November 8, 2011 General and Special Elections Results".
  28. ^ "Loudoun County November 3, 2015 General Election Results".
  29. ^ "Loudoun County November 5, 2019 General Election Results".

External links

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source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudoun_County_Sheriff%27s_Office