Alabama Law Does Not Require Sheriffs To Be State Certified
By Rick McCann
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
July 1, 2025
WALKER COUNTY Ala. Once again, an unusual and little-known fact has come to light, this time in Walker County.
A recent announcement by the Alabama Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (APOSTC) to revoke Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith’s certification and Chief Deputy Ralph Williams credentials for knowingly employing a deputy who was not certified to serve as a law enforcement officer has run into a snag.
The Alabama law states that because sheriffs are elected officials, they are not required to be certified by the APOSTC. However, deputy sheriffs and other law enforcement officers in Alabama are required to be certified by the APOSTC.
The current law as it is written has caused issues through the years with power, training, and a lack of oversight.
Roper wants the law in Alabama to change, telling WBRC he feels a sheriff should be certified, especially if he or she is leading a law enforcement agency. He says it comes down to leading by example.
“If you are going to lead a law enforcement agency, it could be pragmatic for that chief law enforcement officer, in this case the sheriff–to have the powers of arrest, the power to investigate, the power to carry a weapon as a law enforcement officer. If not, you really have a discombobulated type of leadership system where the sheriff is telling people to go enforce the law, but he is not authorized to enforce the law,” A.C. Roper, a long-time law enforcement officer and police chief recently said.
Roper says from a law enforcement perspective, they are enforcing the laws upon others, so he says it stands to reason they should live and abide by those same laws.
Chief Alan Benefield, Executive Secretary for APOSTC says most, if not all, sheriffs in the state of Alabama are APOSTC certified though they are not currently required to be.
State legislators would have to write and pass a new law and the Governor would have to sign it in order to ensure that all county sheriffs meet APOSTC standards and certification requirements.
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