It is the Mission of the Modoc County Sheriff’s Office in collaboration with our communities, residents and visitors to keep the peace in Modoc County. We pledge to follow the Law Enforcement Code of ethics, realizing that we accept our obligations and responsibility to be role models in the community, to the preservation of basic human rights and individual dignity under the rule and spirit of the law. Therefore we will hold that our actions shall be professional, reasonable, and ethical, we will perform our duties with compassion. Through our community oriented policing strategies, we will deliver fair and impartial Law Enforcement, consistent with the spirit and word of this philosophy, the Constitution of the United States, the laws of the State of California and the Ordinances of Modoc County.   The department will provide for the care, custody and transportation of arrested and incarcerated persons, and will provide security and process for the Modoc County Superior Courts. The Sheriff’s Office will also professionally and compassionately with reverence for life performs the duties of Coroner.  These duties include investigation into the circumstances surrounding all deaths in our jurisdiction, for purposes of determining the identification, medical cause, manner, date, time and mechanism.

The Sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of the county.  The office of Sheriff is established by the California Constitution (Article XI, Section 1, subdivision (b) and by statute (Government Code Section 24000). The Sheriff is elected to a non-partisan office for a four-year term.  The jurisdiction of the Sheriff extends throughout the county, including state and federal owned property.
The Sheriff is generally charged with keeping the peace, enforcing criminal statutes and investigating known or suspected criminal activity.  The Sheriff is specifically charged by statute with the duty to serve various forms of civil process and to operate and maintain the county jail.  The Sheriff is the coordinator for law enforcement, Emergency Services, mutual aid and is responsible for search and rescue.  In Modoc County, the offices of Sheriff and Coroner are combined.   The Coroner’s office has the investigative responsibility for carrying out specific statutory duties which are defined in the California Government Code, commencing with Section 27400.
The Sheriff’s Office is a multi-faceted law enforcement agency providing a full range of law enforcement services.  It's focus is on a cooperative community oriented policing platform that operates in a strict and highly regulated  environment that must comply with numerous federal, state and local requirements and mandates.  The Sheriff’s Office strives to provide the highest levels of professional service and protection to Modoc County.