Sheriff’s Office History

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Notable Sheriffs of the Past

Historical Photographs

Although its roots can be traced all the way back to the days of William the Conqueror, the Office of the Sheriff was established in the United States in the 1630s, courtesy of English colonists who settled in Virginia.

When New Mexico became a U.S. territory in 1861, the northwest portion of the state was designated as San Juan County. In 1862, the county became part of Rio Arriba County and it wasn’t until 1887 that San Juan County was recognized once again as a county. Since its existence the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office has steadfastly remained committed to serving the residents of San Juan County.

The Sheriff is a constitutional office with the Sheriff being elected to serve a four year term.

The following individuals have held this office in San Juan County:

2011 – Present	Ken Christesen	May-Dec. 1940	J.C. McKinzie
2009	Mark McCloskey	1937-1940	John Graves
2003 – 2008	Bob Melton	1935-1936	Roy B. Burnham
1995-2002	Michael Davidson	1931-1934	John Graves
1991-1994	Roger Lasater	1927-1930	George Blancett
1989-1990	Conn Brown	1925-1926	W.D. Noland
1987-1988	Billy F. Hillgartner	1923-1924	R.B. Maupin
1985-1986	Doug Brown	1919-1922	J.C. Wynn
1983-1984	Earl Roberts	1917-1918	C.E. Noble
1981-1982	Doug Brown	1909-1916	William T. Dufur
1979-1980	Dan Sullivan	1905-1908	Boone C. Vaughn
1975-1978	Doug Brown	1903-1904	J.E. Elmer
1971-1974	Dan Sullivan	1901-1902	John W. Brown
1967-1970	J.C. Cattaneo	1897-1898	John W. Brown
1963-1966	Roy Marcum	1899-1900	J.C. Dodson
1961-1962	Floyd Stock	1895-1896	A.H. “Uncle Abe” Dunning
1958-1960	Dan Sullivan	1893-1894	A.E. Dustin
1958-1959	Dan Sullivan	1889-1892	J.C. Carson
Fall 1956-1958:	Jim Brimhall	1887-1888	Dan Sullivan
Summer 1956	C.S. McCasland	Early 1880’s	Moses Blancett
1949-1952	Bill Noland
1945-1948	Roy Sullivan
1941-1944	A. H. Andrews