Sheriff officer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A sheriff officer is an officer of the Scottish Sheriff Court, responsible for serving documents and enforcing court orders. The jurisdiction of a sheriff officer is limited to the area of their commission (the relevant sheriffdom or Sheriff Court district), unlike messengers-at-arms (the equivalent officers of the Court of Session, who have jurisdiction throughout Scotland). Both messengers-at-arms and sheriff officers are employed by private businesses and charge fees that are set by statute.

Sheriff officers have been under the control of the local Sheriff for centuries. The office of sheriff officer is thought to be one of the oldest in the Scottish legal system, and may derive from the pre-feudal office of mair (an official who attended a sheriff for arrestment or executions).

The office of sheriff officer is scheduled to disappear when the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc (Scotland) Bill is passed as an Act of the Scottish Parliament in 2006, as will the parallel office of messenger-at-arms. Both will be replaced by the position of Judicial Officer.