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Sheriff Powers Dispute Comes to New Castle County

Sheriff Trinidad Navarro, ncde.org

The New Castle County Council is resisting the proposal to make the county sheriffs and deputies constables.

The proposal has been made by Sheriff Trinidad Navarro who assured the Council that it would not change the basic function of his force.

Governor Jack Markell signed a law that made it clear county sheriffs and deputies did not have arrest powers.

But The Wilmington News Journal reports that Navarro’s request comes in the wake of a dispute in Sussex County where Sheriff Jeff Christopher wants law enforcement powers.

Christopher filed a lawsuit in May charging Sussex County wrongly kept him and his deputies from exercising law-enforcement powers.

Tom Kovach, president of the New Castle County Council, noted that the issue has exploded in Sussex County.

He worried that making the sheriffs and deputies constables might inadvertently turn them into law enforcement officers.

The paper says Navarro assured the council members that the change would not alter how his officers do their job in delivering civil summons and subpoenas or executing writs of possession for evictions.  

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.