{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-19-19-510","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 19, § 19-510","heading":"County sheriff - Qualifications","body":"A. As used in this section, “peace officer” shall mean a full-\n\ntime duly appointed or elected officer who is currently or has\n\npreviously been paid for working more than twenty-five (25) hours\n\nper week and whose duties include or included preserving the public\n\npeace, protection of life and property, prevention of crime, service\n\nof warrants, and the enforcement of:\n\n1. Federal laws;\n\n2. The laws of this state;\n\n3. The laws of any other state in the United States; or\n\n4. The local ordinances of any political subdivision of such\n\nstate.\n\nB. Any person, otherwise qualified, who has been a resident of\n\nthis state for two (2) years, has been a registered voter of the\n\nparty whose nomination he or she seeks, or a registered Independent,\n\nwithin the county from which such person seeks election for the six\n\n(6) months next preceding the first day of the filing period, is at\n\nleast twenty-five (25) years of age next preceding the date of\n\nfiling for office, possesses at least a high school education, and\n\nhas served as a duly certified peace officer, in a full-time\n\ncapacity, for a period of four (4) years or more prior to the date\n\nof filing for the office of county sheriff, shall be eligible to\n\nfile for or hold the office of county sheriff.\n\nC. A candidate shall present proof of peace officer\n\nqualification at the time of filing a declaration of candidacy with\n\nthe secretary of the county election board as described in Section\n\n5-111 of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes. The Secretary of the\n\nState Election Board may prescribe a form to be included as part of\n\nthe documented proof of police or veteran experience as required by\n\nthis section.\n\nD. Any veteran who has served as military police may count four\n\n(4) or more years of service as military police to meet the\n\nexperience requirement listed in subsection B of this section. A\n\nveteran shall present a Certificate of Release or Discharge from\n\nActive Duty (DD Form 214) when filing a declaration of candidacy as\n\nverification of military police experience.\n\nE. Within twelve (12) months of taking office, all newly\n\nelected or appointed sheriffs shall complete a sheriff’s\n\nadministrative school which has been developed by the Oklahoma\n\nSheriffs’ Association and which has been approved by the Council on\n\nLaw Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET). Failure to complete\n\nthe sheriff’s administrative school within the specified period\n\nshall preclude the new sheriff from obtaining CLEET certification.\n\nNew sheriffs with prior CLEET certification, who fail to attend the\n\nsheriff’s administrative school, shall have their CLEET\n\ncertification revoked. Provided, however, the provisions of this\n\nsection relating to qualifications shall not apply to any person\n\nserving as a county sheriff or to any person previously serving as\n\ncounty sheriff prior to the adoption of this statute.","path":["OK Code","Title 19"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os19.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"4da0ba6bce1ad02f7b543d2fbfabfc281c6eaf0b95f6eeb5cb2cfa96be665cad","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-19-19-5","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-19-19-513"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}