The Sheriff and the courthouse and the jail are all so interwoven in the function of local governance that for most of the county’s history they were all located within a few steps of each other.
In fact the legal system was so consolidated at one time that the Sheriff actually lived in the building that held his office and the jail. His wife cooked for the prisoners.
From 1880 to 1969 the Sheriff’s office stood right next to the courthouse on Diamond Street. Today those old buildings are long gone, and the site is entirely covered by the county government complex.
Photos from the collections of Bob Carter, Phil Stoodt, and Richland County Chapter Ohio Genealogical Society.
This story was originally published on Richland Source in 2016.
