Latah County, Idaho. Sheriff Records, 1891-1984

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Latah County, Idaho. Sheriff
Title
Latah County, Idaho. Sheriff Records
Dates
1891-1984 (inclusive)
Quantity
15 cubic feet
Collection Number
MG383 (collection)
Summary
Bound volumes of Sheriff's ledgers, 1895-1977, Sheriff's journal and cashbook, 1895-1917, Sheriff's fee book, 1891-1927, Sheriff's sale and execution docket, 1933-1976, Records of prisoners, 1914-1982, and budgets, 1972-1984.
Repository
University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu
Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The county sheriff is the principal county law enforcement official in the county and is elected every four years. Sheriffs and their deputies patrol county highways and roads, investigate crimes, pursue fleeing criminals, and make arrests. Idaho law gives county sheriffs the authority to provide police services throughout the entire county, but sheriffs leave law enforcement in the larger cities almost entirely to city police forces. In Latah County the sheriff has a contract with the U.S. Forest Service to provide police protection for Forest Service lands for a fee. The sheriff's office and other local police officers are charged with the primary duty of enforcing state liquor laws. (Sydney Duncombe. State and Local Government in Idaho and the Nation, Moscow, University Press of Idaho, 1984. p. 136)

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The records of the Latah County Sheriff span the years 1891 to 1984, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1895 to 1977.

Included in the records are Sheriff's ledgers, journal and cashbooks, fee books, a sale and execution docket, records of prisoners, and a U.S. commissioner's record of proceedings in criminal cases.

Sheriff's ledgers v.6-8, November 15, 1942-August 6, 1946, are lacking.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The majority of records in this group are bound volumes. They are labeled on the spine, and are in sequential order by type.

The sheriff's ledgers, 1895-1977, contain records of court documents delivered by the sheriff's office. Each transaction lists the case name, attorneys, nature of action, date and nature of service, and amount charged to the plaintiff or defendant.

The journal and cashbook, 1895-1917, are both bound in the same volume.

The sheriff's fee books, 1891-1925, lists plaintiff, defendant, for what paid, and amount.

The sheriff's sale and execution docket, 1933-1976, lists property (e.g., buildings, land, automobiles, farm equipment, etc.), sold at sheriff's sales. Other information includes adversaries, lawyers involved, costs including the sheriff's costs.

There are two types of prisoner records, the first, 1914-1976, includes the name of the prisoner, the crime, when committed and released, and by whom. The second is a record of prisoner fees charged to agencies and includes the name of the prisoner, amount of time served and the amount due, usually from another city.

The United States Commissioners Record of Proceedings in Criminal Cases, 1937-1941 is a bound volume of printed two page forms. Only nine cases are recorded in the volume.

The final items in this Manuscript Group are the sheriff's accounts/budgets for 1972-1984. Records of expenditures are listed by account name.

Sick leave and compensatory time records for employees for the years 1975 through 1977 were discarded. Guidelines from the Oregon state archives retention schedule suggests that communications records be retained for a maximum of one year, therefore radio and telephone logs for 1975 through 1980 were also discarded. This reduced the records by 2 cubic feet.

Acquisition Information

The records of the Latah County Sheriff were transferred to the University of Idaho Library by Sheriff Kenneth Buxton between July 1986 and January 1991.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1-19 Sheriff's ledgers
19 items
1895-1932; 1946-1977
1/20-22 Sheriff's Journal and Cash Book
3 items
1895-1917
1/23-25 Sheriff's Fee Book
3 items
1891-1925
1/26 Sheriff's Sale and Execution Docket 2
1 item
1933-1976
1/27-30 Record of Prisoners
4 items
1914-1976
1/31-31 Record of Prisoner Fees charged to Agencies
2 items
1928-1982
1/33 United States Commissioners Record of Proceedings in Criminal Cases
1 item
May 1937-October 1941
1/34 Sheriff's accounts/budgets
13 items
1972-1984

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Sheriffs -- Idaho -- Latah County -- History -- Sources

Geographical Names

  • Latah County (Idaho). Sheriff -- History -- Sources