The Sheriff’s Office is located in the Sandoval County 13th Judicial Court Complex located at 528 & Idalia Road, Bernalillo, NM.
The Sheriffs Office provides law enforcement, court security and animal control services to residents of Sandoval County. The office serves legal documents issued by District and Magistrate Courts and is responsible for transporting prisoners, both adult and juvenile, in and out of Sandoval County. The Sheriff’s Office also is responsible for extradition of prisoners arrested in other States.
The Sheriff and deputies serve as the County’s principal law enforcement officers with duties and responsibilities established by State law. While the civil process is the exclusive responsibility of the County Sheriff, the Sheriff’s primary responsibility is to provide law enforcement services to County residents. The Sheriff assigns deputies into four districts within the County to deter criminal activity, arrest criminal offenders, promote traffic safety and respond to emergency calls.
The Sheriff has concurrent jurisdiction with local law enforcement officers in municipalities. While the Sheriff cooperates closely with community authorities, local police agencies are responsible for providing law enforcement services within their communities. Among the County’s smaller and more rural communities, the Sheriff’s Office is the primary law enforcement agency. The Sheriff’s Office frequently provides mutual aid for other agencies within the County and provides investigative services on major cases.
Tribal Police Departments, tribal officials and the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the FBI provide law enforcement for sovereign Native American nations. In Sandoval County, these include the pueblos of Jemez, Zia, Santa Ana, Sandia, Cochiti, Santo Domingo and San Felipe, portions of the Navajo Nation and the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. The Sheriff works closely with each entity and has authorization to charge Native American offenders on tribal land into tribal courts. Non-Native Americans who are charged with a crime on tribal land can be charged in State courts.