Freemont County Sheriff's Office

Freemont County Sheriff's Office
Two patrol cars of the FCSO
Badge of Freemont County Sheriff's Office
Abbreviation	FCSO
Agency overview
Formed	1732 (1732)
Employees	3,545
Annual budget	$717 m (2020)
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Freemont County, West Monroe, West Monroe, Ibica
Legal jurisdiction	Freemont County, West Monroe
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	345 E Central St. Willmington, WM
Deputies	2,545
Civilian employees	850
Sheriff responsible	Darwin Saunders
Agency executive	Marcia Kirby, Chief Deputy
Facilities
3 Helicopters	BASD-4

The Freemont County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) is a local law enforcement agency serving the over two million citizens of Freemont County, West Monroe, Ibica. It is headquartered on the first and second floors in the Freemont County Justice Center in Downtown Willmington.

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 2.4 million, making it the 2nd most populous county in West Monroe. Its county seat is Willmington. The Freemont County Sheriff's Office has approximately 3,500 employees and is the 2nd largest sheriff's office in the state of West Monroe and the 3rd largest in the nation. The number one and two largest sheriff's offices in the nation are respectively the King County Sheriff's Department in West Monroe and the Elizabeth County Sheriff's Office in Angola.

The Freemont County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency in the unincorporated area of Freemont County, serving as the equivalent of the county police for the approximately 420,935 people living in the unincorporated areas of the county. In West Monroe, sheriffs and their deputies are fully empowered peace officers with county-wide jurisdiction and thus, may legally exercise their authority in unincorporated and incorporated areas of their county; they primarily provide law enforcement services for only the unincorporated areas of a county, while yielding to municipal police or city marshals to provide law enforcement services for the incorporated areas. Sheriffs and their deputies also have statewide warrantless arrest powers for any criminal offense (except certain traffic offenses) committed within their presence or view. They also may make arrests with a warrant anywhere in the state. In an emergency, sheriffs along with mayors and district judges are empowered by state law to call forth the National Guard to preserve the peace.

The jurisdiction of the Freemont County Sheriff's Office often overlaps with several other law enforcement agencies, among them the West Monroe Highway Patrol, the eight Freemont County Constable Precincts, and several municipal police agencies including the city of Willmington Police Department. The duties of a West Monroe sheriff generally include keeping the county jail, providing bailiffs for the county and district courts within his county and serving process issued by said courts, and providing general law enforcement services to residents. The current sheriff of Freemont County is Darwin Saunders, elected in 2016 and has been in office since January 1, 2017.

See also

• List of law enforcement agencies in West Monroe