# Sheriffdom > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sheriffdom > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sheriffdom.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheriffdom > Source revision: 1259802931 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Judicial district in Scotland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Scots law}}A '''sheriffdom''' is a judicial district in [Scotland](/source/Scotland), led by a [sheriff principal](/source/sheriff_principal). Since 1 January 1975, there have been six sheriffdoms. Each sheriffdom is divided into a series of [sheriff court](/source/sheriff_court) districts, and each sheriff court is presided over by a resident or floating sheriff (a legally qualified judge). Sheriffs principal and resident or floating sheriffs are all members of the [judiciary of Scotland](/source/judiciary_of_Scotland). ==History== ===Before 1975=== {{main|Historical development of Scottish sheriffdoms}} Sheriffdoms were originally identical to the [shires of Scotland](/source/shires_of_Scotland), originating in the twelfth century. Until the eighteenth century the office of sheriff was often hereditary, but this was ended following the unsuccessful [Jacobite Rising of 1745](/source/Jacobite_Rising_of_1745). The [Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746](/source/Heritable_Jurisdictions_(Scotland)_Act_1746) ([20 Geo. 2](/source/20_Geo._2). c. 43) revested the government of the shires in the Crown, compensating those office holders who were displaced. The [Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747](/source/Sheriffs_(Scotland)_Act_1747) ([21 Geo. 2](/source/21_Geo._2). c. 19) reduced the office of sheriff principal to a largely ceremonial one, with a sheriff depute or sheriff substitute appointed to each "county, shire or stewartry".{{cite journal |last1=Whetstone |first1=Ann E. |year= 1977|title=The Reform of the Scottish Sheriffdoms in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries |journal=Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=61–71 |doi=10.2307/4048219 |jstor=4048219}} The sheriff deputes, who were paid a salary by the Crown, were qualified [advocates](/source/Faculty_of_Advocates) and took charge of sheriff courts.{{cite web|title=Guide to Sheriff Court Records|url=http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/sheriffCourt.asp|publisher=[National Archives of Scotland](/source/National_Archives_of_Scotland)|access-date=14 September 2012}} By the nineteenth century, the office of sheriff principal was an additional title held by the [lord lieutenant of the county](/source/lord-lieutenant), and the [Circuit Courts (Scotland) Act 1828](/source/Circuit_Courts_(Scotland)_Act_1828) ([9 Geo. 4](/source/9_Geo._4). c. 29) redesignated sheriff deputes as simply "sheriffs".9 Geo.4 c.29 s,22 "Sheriff-Deputes may be addressed by the title of Sheriff without the term Depute being added." The Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746 also began the grouping of two or more counties under a single sheriffdom. This process continued so that by 1975 there were 12 sheriffdoms with only the county of [Lanarkshire](/source/Lanarkshire) not combined. ===Since 1975=== New boundaries defined sheriffdoms in reference to [regions, districts and islands areas](/source/Regions_and_districts_of_Scotland) which were then to be created on 16 May 1975.The Sheriffdoms Reorganisation Order 1974 S. I. 1974/2087 (S.191) This reduced the number of sheriffdoms to six. The sheriffdoms were redefined again with effect from 1 April 1996, when new [local government areas](/source/Subdivisions_of_Scotland) were created.[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/1006 The Sheriffdoms (Alteration of Boundaries) Order 1996 S. I. 1996/1006 (S.109)] The boundaries of four sheriffdoms were unchanged. The boundaries of the other two were altered, so as to transfer an area around [Chryston](/source/Chryston) from the sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin to the sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway. Elsewhere boundaries were simply redefined by reference to new local authority areas and electoral wards.[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/1006 Explanatory note, The Sheriffdoms (Alteration of Boundaries) Order 1996] {| class="wikitable" |- ! Sheriffdom ! Counties comprised in sheriffdom from 1 January 1975 ! Regions, Island areas and Districts comprised in sheriffdom from 16 May 1975 ! Areas comprised in sheriffdom from 1 April 1996 |- |[Glasgow and Strathkelvin](/source/Sheriffdom_of_Glasgow_and_Strathkelvin) ||That part of the [County of Lanark](/source/Lanarkshire) comprising the sheriff court district of Glasgow ||The districts of City of [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow) and [Strathkelvin](/source/Strathkelvin) ||City of [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow), part of [East Dunbartonshire](/source/East_Dunbartonshire) (wards 11–26); and part of [South Lanarkshire](/source/South_Lanarkshire) (wards 62–74) |- |[Grampian, Highland and Islands](/source/Grampian%2C_Highland_and_Islands) ||The counties of [Inverness](/source/Inverness-shire), [Nairn](/source/Nairnshire), [Ross and Cromarty](/source/Ross_and_Cromarty), [Moray](/source/Moray), [Caithness](/source/Caithness), [Sutherland](/source/Sutherland), [Orkney](/source/Orkney), [Zetland](/source/Shetland), [Aberdeen](/source/Aberdeenshire), [Kincardine](/source/Kincardineshire) and [Banff](/source/Banffshire); and that part of the [County of Argyll](/source/Argyllshire) comprised in the existing sheriff court district of [Fort William](/source/Fort_William%2C_Highland) ||The regions of [Grampian](/source/Grampian) and [Highland](/source/Highland_(council_area)), the Islands areas of [Orkney](/source/Orkney), [Shetland](/source/Shetland) and [Western Isles](/source/Western_Isles) ||[Aberdeen](/source/Aberdeen) City, [Aberdeenshire](/source/Aberdeenshire), [Highland](/source/Highland_(council_area)), [Moray](/source/Moray), [Orkney Islands](/source/Orkney_Islands), [Shetland Islands](/source/Shetland_Islands) and [Western Isles](/source/Western_Isles) |- |[Lothian and Borders](/source/Lothian_and_Borders) ||The counties of [East Lothian](/source/East_Lothian), [Midlothian](/source/Midlothian_(historic)), [West Lothian](/source/West_Lothian_(historic)), [Berwick](/source/Berwickshire), [Peebles](/source/Peebleshire), [Roxburgh](/source/Roxburghshire) and [Selkirk](/source/Selkirkshire) ||The regions of [Lothian](/source/Lothian) and [Borders](/source/Scottish_Borders) ||City of [Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh), [East Lothian](/source/East_Lothian), [Midlothian](/source/Midlothian), [West Lothian](/source/West_Lothian) and [Scottish Borders](/source/Scottish_Borders) |- |[North Strathclyde](/source/North_Strathclyde) ||The counties of [Renfrew](/source/Renfrewshire), [Argyll](/source/Argyllshire) (without the part comprised in the existing sheriff court district of [Fort William](/source/Fort_William%2C_Highland)), [Dunbarton](/source/Dunbartonshire), [Bute](/source/County_of_Bute) and that part of the [county of Ayr](/source/Ayrshire) comprising the sheriff court district of [Kilmarnock](/source/Kilmarnock) |The districts of [Argyll and Bute](/source/Argyll_and_Bute), [Dumbarton](/source/Dumbarton), [Clydebank](/source/Clydebank), [Bearsden and Milngavie](/source/Bearsden_and_Milngavie), [Renfrew](/source/Renfrew_District), [Eastwood](/source/Eastwood%2C_Scotland), [Inverclyde](/source/Inverclyde), [Cunninghame](/source/Cunninghame) and [Kilmarnock and Loudoun](/source/Kilmarnock_and_Loudoun_(district)) ||[Argyll and Bute](/source/Argyll_and_Bute), [North Ayrshire](/source/North_Ayrshire), [West Dunbartonshire](/source/West_Dunbartonshire), [Inverclyde](/source/Inverclyde), [East Renfrewshire](/source/East_Renfrewshire) and [Renfrewshire](/source/Renfrewshire); part of [East Ayrshire](/source/East_Ayrshire) (wards 1-20); and part of [East Dunbartonshire](/source/East_Dunbartonshire) (wards 1–10) |- |[South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway](/source/Sheriffdom_of_South_Strathclyde%2C_Dumfries_and_Galloway) ||The counties of [Dumfries](/source/Dumfriesshire), [Kirkcudbright](/source/Kirkcudbright) and [Wigtown](/source/Wigtownshire); that part of the [county of Ayr](/source/Ayrshire) comprising the sheriff court district of [Ayr](/source/Ayr) ||The region of [Dumfries and Galloway](/source/Dumfries_and_Galloway); the districts of [Monklands](/source/Monklands%2C_Scotland), [Cumbernauld](/source/Cumbernauld_and_Kilsyth_(district)), [Hamilton](/source/Hamilton%2C_Scotland), [Motherwell](/source/Motherwell%2C_North_Lanarkshire), [East Kilbride](/source/East_Kilbride), [Kyle and Carrick](/source/Kyle_and_Carrick) and [Cumnock and Doon Valley](/source/Cumnock_and_Doon_Valley) ||[South Ayrshire](/source/South_Ayrshire), [Dumfries and Galloway](/source/Dumfries_and_Galloway) and [North Lanarkshire](/source/North_Lanarkshire); part of [East Ayrshire](/source/East_Ayrshire), (wards 21–30) and part of [South Lanarkshire](/source/South_Lanarkshire) (wards 1-61) |- |[Tayside, Central and Fife](/source/Tayside%2C_Central_and_Fife) ||The counties of [Perth](/source/Perthshire), [Angus](/source/Angus%2C_Scotland), [Stirling](/source/Stirlingshire), [Clackmannan](/source/Clackmannanshire), [Fife](/source/Fife) and [Kinross](/source/Kinross-shire) ||The regions of [Tayside](/source/Tayside), [Central](/source/Central_Region%2C_Scotland) and [Fife](/source/Fife) ||[Angus](/source/Angus%2C_Scotland), [Clackmannanshire](/source/Clackmannanshire), [Dundee](/source/Dundee) City, [Falkirk](/source/Falkirk), [Fife](/source/Fife), [Perth and Kinross](/source/Perth_and_Kinross) and [Stirling](/source/Stirling) |} Each sheriffdom has a full-time [sheriff principal](/source/sheriff_principal). Sheriffdoms are divided into [sheriff court district](/source/Sheriff_court)s, each with one or more [sheriff](/source/sheriff). == Notes and references == {{UK subdivisions}} * Category:Scots law Category:Administrative divisions of Scotland --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sheriffdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheriffdom) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheriffdom?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.