History of the Department

The City of St. Louis, since 1876, has had no less than 24 Sheriffs, with John Finn presiding over the office the year St. Louis city separated from the County of St. Louis. Records in the downtown St. Louis Mercantile Library reveal that of the 24 Sheriffs of our city, Martin L. Tozer was elected a record 5 times, and another Democrat, Joseph F. Dickmann, was chosen by voters 3 times.

The qualifications for Sheriff of St. Louis are identical to those credentials for President of the United States. The candidate must be 35 years of age, a natural-born citizen and a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years. A Sheriff in the U.S. is one fo the chief administrative officers of a county. It is the Sheriff's duty to take charge of prisoners, to oversee juries, and to prevent breaches of the peace. The Sheriff also carries out the judgments of the county court. In St. Louis, the Sheriff serves the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis.

St. Louis Sheriffs since 1876

Name	Party	Dates Served
John Finn	Democrat	1876-1880
Isaac M. Mason	Republican	1880-1884
Henry F. Harrington	Democrat	1884-1888
John H. Pohlman	Republican	1888-1891
Patrick Stead	Democrat	1891-1895
Henry Troll	Republican	1895-1897
John H. Pohlman	Republican	1899-1901
Joseph F. Dickmann	Demorat	1901-1905
Patrick H. Clarke	Republican	1905-1907
Louis Nolte	Republican	1907-1913
Joseph F. Dickmann	Democrat	1913-1917
George P. Weinbrenner	Republican	1917-1921
Charles E. Morstadt	Republican	1921-1925
Anton Schuler	Republican	1925-1929
George Strodtman	Republican	1929-1933
Thomas R. Madden	Democrat	1933-1937
James J. Fitzsimmons	Democrat	1937-1941
Thomas H. Quinn	Democrat	1941-1945
John F. Dougherty	Democrat	1945-1949
Thomas F. Callanan	Democrat	1949-1953
Martin L. Tozer	Democrat	1952-1972
Raymond R. Percich	Democrat	1972-1977
Benjamin L. Goins	Democrat	1978
Gordon D. Schweitzer	Democrat	1979-1989
James W. Murphy	Democrat	1989 - present