List of sheriffs of Monmouth County, New Jersey

Monmouth County, New Jersey has had sheriffs since colonial era, when it was part of East Jersey and later was the Province of New Jersey.

After the Dutch surrender of New Netherland, Colonel Richard Nicolls, an English military officer, was authorized to establish the Monmouth Tract, which he did on April 8, 1665, and instituted a legal system centered on English common law^[1] During a brief period of control by the Dutch in 1673, a sheriff would be known as a schout.

"An Act to Appoint Sheriffs", was approved by the Legislature of East New Jersey on March 1, 1682. Terms were for a single year with a maximum of three consecutive terms.^[2][3]

Pursuant to Article VII Section II of the 1947 New Jersey State Constitution, each county in New Jersey is required to have three elected administrative officials known as "constitutional officers": the County Clerk, the County Surrogate (both elected for a five-year term) and the County Sheriff (elected for a three-year term).^[4] There are no term limits.^[5]

Shaun Golden has been the 76th Sheriff of Monmouth County since 2010.^[6][7][8] 1960 Morris J Woodring

Royal sheriffs (pre 1776)

Royal sheriffs during colonial era:^[9]

Order	Term	Sheriff	Notes
01	1683	Eliakim Wardell	First Royal Sheriff. He was appointed by Deputy Governor Thomas Rudyard;[2] served from May 31, 1683, to November 1684. Prior to his appointment Lewis Morris Jr. was appointed to the position but declined to serve. Richard Hartshorne was then appointed and he also declined. Wardell was the third choice.[9]
02	1684	Robert Hamilton
	1696 to 1699	Samuel Foreman
	1699	Daniel Hendrickson	First New Netherlander to be appointed, namesake of Hendrickson Corners, New Jersey[10][11][12][13]
	1700	John Stewart
	1715	Gideon Crawford
	1722 to 1727	William Nicholls	[14]
	1760 to 1762	John Taylor	[15]
	1775	Elisha Lawrence	Last Royal Sheriff. Elisha Lawrence (1746 – July 23, 1799) was an American Federalist Party politician, who represented Monmouth County in the New Jersey Legislative Council, the precursor to the New Jersey State Senate, from 1780 through 1783, from 1789 through 1792 and in 1795. He served as vice-president of Council from 1789 through 1792, and again in 1795.

State of New Jersey (1776-1946)

The sheriffs were:^[9][16]

Order	Term	Sheriff	Notes
01	1776	Nicholas Van Brunt	First Sheriff of Monmouth County after independence.[17]
02	1779	David Forman
03	1782-1784	John Burrowes Jr.	[8]
04	1785	David Ehea
05	1788-89	Daniel Hendrickson	[8]
06	1790	Elisha Walton	[8]
07	1793	William Lloyd	[8]
08	1796	James Lloyd	[8]
09	1799	Samuel P. Formam	[8]
10	1802	Elisha Walton
11	1805	James Lloyd
12	1808	David Craig
13	1811	Lewis Gordon
14	1814	Charles Parker	[18]
15	1817	John J. Ely	(April 7, 1778 – January 11, 1852) This was his first term. He served as the Director of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders and as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly. His son, Horatio Ely, would later serve as sheriff.
16	1820	James Lloyd
17	1823	Richard Lloyd
18	1825	John J. Ely	This was his second term.
19	1828	Daniel Holmes
20	1831	John M. Perrine
21	1834	Thomas Miller
22	1837	Horatio Ely
23	1838	Abraham G. Neafie
24	1841	Charles Allen
25	1844	Holmes Conover
26	1847	Samuel Conover
27	1850	John C. Cox
28	1853	Holmes Conover
29	1856	Samuel Conover
30	1859	Joseph I. Thompson	[8]
31	1862	Jordan Woolley	His son was the Mayor of Long Branch, New Jersey.[8]
32	1865	William B. Sutphin
33	1868	John H. Patterson
34	1871	Samuel T. Hendrickson	[19]
35	1874	George W. Brown
36	1878	Charles Allen
37	1881	John L. Thompson
38	1884	Theodore Aumack
39	1887	Theodore Fields	He served from 1887 to 1890. He was born near Eatonown and educated at Ocean Hill Institute in Long Branch.[20] He went into the hotel business purchasing Osborn House (New Jersey) in Avon-by-the-Sea and Manasquan (then known as Swuan), before locating in Wall Township before returning to farming.[20] He was a founder of the Bonnat Club, a hunting and fishing society.[21] On May 14, 1884, Fields was chosen as Director of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders and served for three years.[22] Fields was appointed to the unexpired term of Freeholder Samuel M. Gifford, who had died in office, and served on the board until May 1, 1887. After leaving the Board of Chosen Freeholders, Fields was nominated as the 1887 Democratic candidate for sheriff, and was elected to a three-year term in the general election. While sheriff, Fields relocated to Freehold, the county seat.[20] He is the father Houston Fields (Shriff,1896 to 1899).
40	1891	Ruliff P. Smock	This is his first term.
41	1893	Matthias Woolley	He served from 1893 to 1895. Matthias Woolley was the first Republican Sheriff of Monmouth County. He moved to Freehold, New Jersey and hired Houston Fields as his deputy sheriff and John A. Howland as his confidential clerk. He served as a member of the board of education of the Long Branch Public Schools for 16 years and was the district's treasurer for six years.[23]
42	1896	Houston Fields	He served from 1896 to 1899. Fields was born on October 23, 1861, near Eatontown, New Jersey. He was educated in the Manasquan Public Schools, at the Freehold Institute, and in the Long Branch Public Schools. He was admitted to the bar in June 1894, and as a Master in Chancery in 1896. After working for five years for the Pennsylvania Railroad, Houston Fields was appointed in 1887 as Under Sheriff and warden of the county jail by his father, Sheriff Theodore Fields. He would continue to serve under sheriffs of both parties before being elected to a three-year term as sheriff in 1896. Houston Fields was active in many Masonic and fraternal organizations in Monmouth County.[23]
43	1899	Ruliff P. Smock	This is his second term.
44	1899	Obadiah E. Davis	This was his first term.[8]
44	1899	Obadiah C. Bogardus	He was a dentist in Keyport, New Jersey. He was elected sheriff of Monmouth County in 1902 and Mayor of Keyport, New Jersey from 1917 to 1920 and again in 1935.[8]
	1902 to 1905	Obadiah E.Davis	This was his second term.[8]
	1905	Charles Asa Francis	[8]
	1905	Charles E. Close	[8]
	1908	Clarence E. F. Hetrick	[8]
	1911	Wilbert A. Beecroft	[8]
	1914	Cornelius B. Barkalow	This was his first term.[8]
	1917	Elmer Hendrickson Geran	[8] Member of the Democratic Party. He was born on October 24, 1875, he represented New Jersey's 3rd congressional district from 1923 to 1925. He died on January 12, 1954.
	1918	Cornelius B. Barkalow	This was his second term.[8]
	1920	Elmer Hendrickson Geran	[8]
	1920	Walter H. Gravatt	[8]
	1920	John H. Van Mater	[8]
	1921 to 1925
	1926	Narry N. Johnson	[8]
	1929	William R. O’Brien	[8]
	1932	Howard Height	[8][24]
	1935	George H. Robert	[8]
	1938	Morris J. Woodring	[8][25]
	1941	John T. Lawley	[8]
	1941–1944	Morris J. Woodring	[8][25]

State of New Jersey (post-1947 constitution)

Order	Term	Sheriff	Notes
	1947 1949–1951 1953 1956–1962	Ira Ellsworth Wolcott	(1883-1963) [8][26]
71	1962–1965	Joseph A. Shafto	[8]
72	1965	Paul Kiernan	He served from 1965 to 1980,[8] for five terms and also served as the Mayor of Long Branch.[27]
73	1980	William M. Lanzaro	Served from 1980 to 1995,[8] for five terms. Lanzaro grew up in the Morganville section of Marlboro Township and attended the Marlboro Public Schools and Matawan Regional High School. He later moved to Matawan, where he ran a car dealership. He became involved in the Matawan Republican Party, eventually becoming its chairman, and ran the successful 1970 campaign of Lillian G. Burry for borough council.[28] In 1977, Lanzaro unsuccessfully challenged longtime Democratic incumbent sheriff Paul Kiernan, but defeated Kiernan in a 1980 rematch. Lanzaro, who campaigned on the issue that he would be a full-time sheriff, would go on to serve five terms himself. Soon after taking office, Lanzaro was faced with a protest by inmates at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution who were demanding more privileges.[29] A federal judge ruled that conditions amounted to punishment.[30] During Lanzaro's tenure, the Sheriff's Office participated in the Ident-a-Kid program. In "Pay or stay" sweeps, parents delinquent in their child support payments were arrested and held until payment was made.[31] By 1995, Lanzaro had had a falling out with county political leaders and was denied the Republican organization's endorsement for reelection. He challenged the organization-backed candidate, Joseph W. Oxley, in the Republican primary and lost. Afterward, he retired from political activity.
74	1996	Joseph W. Oxley	He served from 1996 to 2007.[8][32]
75	2008	Kim Guadagno	She served from January 1, 2008, to January 19, 2010.[8][33]
76	2010	Shaun Golden	76th Sheriff of Monmouth County[6][7] He holds a master's degree in administration from Seton Hall University. He has been a resident of Farmingdale.[34] Golden is a New Jersey Certified Public Manager and an adjunct professor at Monmouth University in the Department of Political Science and Public Policy.[35] Shaun Golden is a brother of Al Golden, head football coach at the University of Miami.[36]

References

1. Salter, Edwin (1997), Salter's History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties New Jersey, Heritage Books, ISBN 9781585494385
2. The Grants, Concessions and Original Constitutions of the Province of New Jersey, Aaron Leaming and Jacob Spicer; W. Bradford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1758. p. 228
3. Prison Inquiry Commission (1917). Report of the Prison Inquiry Commission (Report). General Books LLC. ISBN 9781150886706.
4. New Jersey State Constitution (1947), Article VII, Section II, Paragraph 2, New Jersey Department of State. Accessed October 26, 2017.
5. "Check out the yearly salary and pensions of N.J.'s 21 sheriffs". 2018-01-29.
6. "About Sheriff Shaun Golden". 2013-08-12. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
7. "Members List: Sheriffs". Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey. Archived from the original on 2017-10-23. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
8. "Sheriff Years Served". Monmouth County Sheriffs Office. 2017-02-14. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
9. History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & Co. 1885.
10. Scroggins, William G. (2009), Leaves of a Stunted Shrub, vol. 2, Richard Baldwin Cook, ISBN 9780979125768
11. "Artist Info". www.nga.gov. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
12. Hornor, William S. (1 June 2009). This Old Monmouth of Ours. Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 9780806348605. Retrieved 19 February 2018 – via Google Books.
13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2018-02-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. Salter, Edwin (19 February 1997). Salter's History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties New Jersey, Embracing a Genealogical Record of Earliest Settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and Their Descendants. Heritage Books. ISBN 9781585494385 – via Google Books.
15. "Throckmorton-Lippit-Taylor Burying Ground - Middletown, NJ". www.middletownnj.org.
16. Sheriffs That Served Monmouth County, Monmouth County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
17. Ellis, Franklin (1885), History of Monmouth County, New Jersey, Jas. B. Rodgers Printing Co.
18. Hornor, William S. (1 June 2009). This Old Monmouth of Ours. Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 9780806348605 – via Google Books.
19. Monmouth County Politics The New York Times. Retrieved March 8, 2023
20. Wiley, Samuel T. (ed.) Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of the Third congressional district of New Jersey, p. 1003. Biographical Publishing Company, 1896.Accessed October 20, 2015. "Theodore Fields, father of our subject, was also born near Eatontown, and was educated at the old Ocean Hill Institute near Long Branch. He was a farmer near Eatontown up to 1887, when he removed to Freehold, and is still interested in farming, having a farm several miles from the latter place. He is a democrat, and was always deeply interested in the success of his party. He removed from the farm to New Branch, now called Avon, where he engaged in the hotel business for about two years. Afterwards he removed to Manasquan, having purchased the Osborne House at that place, and this hotel he conducted for the next six years. He then sold out and removed to the farm in Wall township, Monmouth county, and while living on the farm, in Nov., 1887, he was elected sheriff of the county. He then moved his family to Freehold, the county- seat, where he resided until the close of his term of office in 1890. He lived a life of retirement until 1S9 (J, when he again became interested in farming on his present farm near Freehold."
21. The American Angler - Volume 14, Issue 25 - Page 388
22. Minutes, Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders
23. Biographical And Portrait Cyclopedia Of The Third Congressional District Of New Jersey. Philadelphia, Biographical publishing company. 1896.
24. Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.NOV. 23, 1932 (1932-11-23). "SOCIAL TEA IN CELLS BARRED IN JERSEY JAIL; New Sheriff Removes Electric Stoves and Limits Visiting - Fine on Rolls Missing". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-06-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
25. Matawan 1944
26. Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.FEB. 1, 1947 (1947-02-01). "MADE MONMOUTH SHERIFF; Wolcott of Eatontown Named to Succeed Woodring - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-06-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
27. "Paul Kiernan, former sheriff, in hospital", Asbury Park Press, May 17, 1989. Accessed February 3, 2018. "Paul Kiernan Sr., 83, a former Monmouth County Sheriff was in satisfactory condition at Monmouth Medical Center, here, a hospital spokeswoman said last night The hospital would not release more information last night ? Kiernan served as sheriff from 1965 to the early 1980s."
28. The Matawan Journal, November 5, 1970
29. AP (26 April 1981). "Jersey Jail Is Damaged In a Protest by Prisoners". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
30. AP (1984-10-14). "Judge Orders Improvements In Conditions At Jail In Jersey - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
31. James, George (20 September 1989). "States Using Stiff Methods To Collect Child Support". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
32. Morgan, Sue. "Oxley: The Man Who Would be Judge? Kyrillos calls reports that Monmouth County GOP chairman and former sheriff will ascend to the bench 'premature.'", Middletown Patch, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 3, 2018. "Oxley, the county sheriff from 1996 to 2007, could not be reached for comment at press time."
33. Alfaro, Alyana. "Kim Guadagno Wins GOP Nod to Succeed Christie", New York Observer, June 6, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2018. "Guadagno, of Monmouth Beach, is a former federal prosecutor who was born in Iowa and served as Monmouth County sheriff from 2008 until 2010."
34. Biese, Alex. "GOP panel winnows field of sheriff hopefuls to 2", Asbury Park Press, March 18, 2007. Accessed August 10, 2012. "At its meeting Saturday at Republican headquarters in Freehold, the committee selected Shaun E. Golden of Farmingdale and Kimberly Guadagno of Monmouth Beach as the names to be forwarded on to the Republican convention to be held 9 a.m. March 24 at Brookdale Community College."
35. "Page Not Found". 20 May 2015. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
36. "Miami Hurricanes coach Al Golden preaches to his players about the legacy of 'The U'". The Palm Beach Post.