Butte County was incorporated on February 18, 1850, as one of California’s original 27 counties.  Our first Sheriff, J.Q. Wilbur, was elected in June of that year to bring law and order to the 12,800 square miles that comprised the county at the time. 

The term of Sheriff was originally set by the Legislature at two years; in 1880, the term was increased to four years.  After more than a decade of vacillating between two and four years, the length of term was permanently settled at four years in 1897.

The first Butte County Jail was in the county-seat town of Hamilton from 1850-1853; the second in Bidwell Bar, where voters had elected to move the county seat, from 1853-1856; and the third jail was in the basement of the courthouse when the county seat was permanently established in Oroville in 1856.  By that time, the county had roughly assumed its current boundaries and size of 1676 square miles.  But even as the county was shrinking in size, both the population and crime were rapidly increasing, and all three jails were commonly in use and at capacity.

In 1904, a new Sheriff’s Office and Jail was completed at Huntoon & Robinson, 30 feet south of the Butte County Courthouse.  A ‘bridge of sighs’, which was a wire covered ramp, led from the second story of the jail directly into the upstairs courtroom, where a south window was made into a door.  We moved to our current location on County Center Dr. in 1965.  The empty jail and original courthouse were so heavily damaged in the August 1975 earthquake that they had to be demolished.

Above: The 1948 addition to the back of the jail survived the earthquake and is best known for its mural of Ishi. The planter at the curb used to be a horse watering trough.

Above right:  Sheriff Larry Gillick and sons in front of the Huntoon Street Sheriff’s Office and Jail in the mid-fifties.  Having held office for 32 years, he is Butte County’s longest serving Sheriff. 

 BUTTE COUNTY SHERIFFS

Below:  Staff in front of the Sheriff’s Office Administration Bldg in the early days at 33 County Center.

The Sheriff’s Office now has facilities at three locations on County Center Drive:

Administration and the Jail at 33, the East Facility at 31, and the Day Reporting Center at 51.

 Sheriff J. W. Smith 2010-2014