The Decatur County Sheriff's Department was established in 1822.

THE COUNTY JAIL

On February 11, 1823 the Board of Commissioners ordered the construction of the first Decatur County Jail. This jail stood on the west side of the court house yard. It was poorly constructed and its first prisoner was Hiram Hendricks.

In 1832 it was decided that a new jail was needed. The materials from the old jail were sold by the Sheriff and the new jail was completed in October of that year.

On June 15, 1859 the Board of Commissioners passed a motion to remove the county jail from the court house square and ordered the Sheriff and auditor of the County to purchase a suitable site and remove all materials from the old site. The new site selected was on the north side of West Main Street, ½ block from the public square.

The court yard jail was removed in September of 1859 and the new jail was in use until 1880 when on the 20th day of May a contract was awarded for the construction of another new building.

The 1880 building under went several renovations and continued to serve the County until 1979 when the Board of Commissioners again ordered the construction of a new jail.

The new jail is located at 119 East Railroad Street. This building is still in use and has itself undergone renovations.

In 2005, The Board of Commissioners purchased the former Washington School building on South Ireland Street to serve as a County annex. The annex includes the Sheriff's office, 911 dispatch and modern work release facilities for male and female inmates. The building on Railroad Street remains the County jail.

DECATUR COUNTY SHERIFF'S

William Ross – Appointed

Doddrige Alley – Elected

John Parks

Abraham Hendricks

John Thompson

James Morgan

Wyatt R. Henderson

Michael Swope

John Imlay

John D. Wilson

Joseph V. Bermushaffer

Edward A. Jocelyn

Phillip Mourer

Charles Sherman

Charles Woodward

Henry Reddington

Giles E. White

James Fiscus

Andrew J. Smith

John W. Stout

Merrit C. Welsh

George S. Dickey

William T. Stott

Jacob Biddinger

S.N. Patterson

John DeMoss

John Adam Meek

Knute Coy

Taylor F. Meek

Jefferson C. Davis

Harry W. Braden

Otis Maddux

Robert Alexander

Edward Overton

Charles Beeson

Sam Curry

William F. Davis

Earl Marlow

Claude Connor

Salvatore Navarra

Irvin Gilley

Clinton R. Tucker

Edwin Schwendemann

Ralph Meer

Larry Snyder

Jon Oldham

Daryl Templeton

Gregory D. Allen