History

History

The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office is the largest Sheriff's Office in the State of Wisconsin. Founded in 1835, it is also the oldest Sheriff's Office in the State.

Since 2002 the Sheriff's Office has been led by David A. Clarke Jr., who was appointed by Governor Scott McCallum on March 25. He was elected by the citizens of Milwaukee County on November 5, 2002. As Sheriff, he is the highest ranking constitutional officer in Milwaukee County.

The Sheriff's constitutional mandates include keeping and maintaining the peace throughout the county, maintaining the county jail, providing bailiff services for circuit courts and serving legal process. In the interest of flexible and efficient service to Milwaukee County citizens the Sheriff's Office is comprised of four Bureaus, Administration, Police Services, Special Operations, and Detention Services.

The Sheriff's Office, using Community Policing as an organizational philosophy, remains sensitive to the needs of the community. Recognizing that safety is a community responsibility, the Sheriff's Office engages the community. Knowing that our effectiveness is determined by public cooperation, the Sheriff's Office goal is to identify community leaders and work to facilitate the efforts of neighborhood leaders. The greater the degree of public involvement in addressing community problems the greater the potential for effective problem solving.

SHERIFFS 1835 – PRESENT

Benoni Finch	1835 – 1836	Theodore Zillmer	1901 – 1902
Henry M. Hubbard	1836 –1838	Frederick Tegtmeyer	1903 – 1904
Joseph Ward	1842 – 1843	William J. Cary	1905 – 1906
Edward D. Holton	1843 – 1844	William R. Knell	1907 – 1908
Owen Aldrich	1839 – 1841	Herman E. Franke	1909 – 1910
George E. Graves	1847–1848	William A. Arnold	1911 – 1912
Egbert Mosely	1849 – 1850	Lawrence McGreal	1913 – 1914
John White	1851 – 1852	Edward T. Melms	1915 – 1916
Herman L. Page	1853 – 1854	Patrick McManus	1917 – 1918
Samuel S. Conover	1855 – 1856	Robert Buech	1919 – 1920
Herman L. Page	1857 – 1858	Patrick McManus	1921 – 1922
Andrew J. Langworthy	1859 – 1860	Phillip C. Westfahl	1923 – 1924
Charles H. Larkin	1861 – 1862	Charles Reichenbach	1925 – 1926
Nelson Webster	1863 – 1864	Charles Schallitz	1927 - 1928
C. M. Hoyt	1865 –1866	Charles Reichenbach	1929 – 1930
Joseph Duester	1867 – 1868	Al Benson	1931 – 1932
Gustav Brunst	1869 – 1870	Joseph J. Shinners	1933 – 1936
William C. Parson	1871 – 1872	Edward J. Mitten	1937 – 1940
John F. McDonald	1873 – 1874	Joseph J. Shinners	1941 – 1944
Charles Halzhauer	1875 – 1876	George M. Hanley	1945 – 1948
Casper M. Sanger	1877 – 1878	Herman Kubiak	1949 – 1952
P. Van Vechten, Jr.	1879 – 1880	Max A. Barczak	1953 – 1956
John Rugee	1881 – 1882	Clemens F. Michalski	1957 – 1960
John Bentley	1883 – 1884	George J. Witkowski	1961 – 1962
George Paschen	1885 – 1886	Michael S. Wolke	1963 – 1966
Newell Daniels	1887 – 1888	Edwin T. Purtell	1967 – 1969
John F. Burnham	1889 – 1890	Michael S. Wolke	1969 – 1981
Michael P. Walsh	1891 – 1892	William E. Klamm	1981 – 1983
Michael Dunn	1893 – 1894	Richard E. Artison	1983 – 1995
William S. Stanley	1895 – 1896	Robert B. Kliesmet	1995 – 1997
Fred G. Isenring	1897 – 1898	Leverett F. Baldwin	1997 – 2002
George Durner	1899 -1900	David A.Clarke Jr.	2002-Present