Michigan County Lax Sheriff Requirements May Change

Being a Sheriff is one of the biggest jobs in the county as they are in charge of other officers, the county jail, and safety for so many individuals. From what most of us would think or believe we have seen is officers rise up in the ranks and gain experience from being a C.O officer, public safety officer, lieutenant, chief, etc. Except this isn't always the case.

Here in Michigan becoming a County Sheriff Officer is much easier than one would think. It's actually so easy that just about anyone could become the Sheriff, well for now. As of now in the state of Michigan in order to become a County Sheriff you must be a qualified elector in the county you want to become sheriff and then you must win the election. If you do those two things, you can easily become a County Sheriff in Michigan.

They are looking to making the requirements to become a Michigan County Sheriff much stricter than they are now. You must still be living in the County that you are running for Sheriff in but moving forward there will be a requirement of needing to have served as either a licensed law enforcement officer or a corrections officer for a period of at least five years.

This is under House Bill 4981, and this doesn't apply to those that are already sheriffs as they won't lose their jobs for not fitting the new criteria but all sheriffs who are set to be appointed after this bill would be signed into law is subject to these guidelines. They aren't sure if any sheriffs currently don't meet the proposed guidelines.

This made Michigan Association of County Sheriffs Deputy Director Dan Pfannes a little upset as he said

"Each of Michigan’s 83 elected sheriffs who are in office today were qualified to hold the position and not a single person in office today would be effected if this proposed change was or wasn’t approved. If a person in office today did not have that licensure or certification, currently, the proposed changes would not apply to them, as the bill would specifically exempt them from those requirements.”

Michigan isn't necessarily in foreign territory here as many states don't have strict requirements for Sheriff positions but many do require some level of training and certification, he added, though how much varies state from state. The Bill had a hearing in the House Elections Committee on Oct. 3 but has been voted on yet.