Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office


The Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement services for 316,236 people within of jurisdiction within Chesterfield County, VA.

History

The CCSO has had 60 sheriffs since its formation in 1749. The CCSO saw much action during the American Revolutionary War including Patrick Henry reciting his famous speech from St. John's Church and the area surrounding the Courthouse was a very strategic location. In 1841 the original jail, which was commissioned in 1749, was destroyed in a fire. This resulted in a new jail, which was used until the 1940s when it was converted into an emergency communications office. From the 1940s to 1960 CCSO inmates were housed in other jails until a new, modern facility was built. In the 1970s an addition was built onto the jail. In 1994, a new building was constructed to hold those charged with misdemeanors. Those facing and/or convicted of felonies were still housed in the old 1960 building, which was torn down in 2002. A new building, along with the 1994 section, now constitute the men's jail. There is no longer a Chesterfield jail for female inmates. They all are held at Riverside Regional Jail.
In 1917 the original courthouse was demolished to make room for the new one. The 1917 courthouse is now on the National Register of Historic Places. It closed in 1989, when the current courthouse opened at the intersection of Courthouse and Iron Bridge roads.
CCSO has implemented a voluntary addiction recovery program in the county jail which utilizes peer-to-peer recovery support and professional counselors working to treat underlying conditions. The program is called the HARP program, an acronym for Helping Addicts Recover Permanently. Participants of the program are allowed to return to the jail and participate in group meetings after they have been discharged. The program has grown a robust recovery support network in the community.

Organization

The agency is currently headed by Sheriff Karl S. Leonard.

Accreditation

Of the over 360 law enforcement agencies in Virginia, the CCSO is among the 47 law enforcement agencies having earned accreditation by the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission.