There's a New Sheriff in Town

At their June 17 meeting, Northampton County Council voted unanimously to confirm the appointment of Chris Zieger as Sheriff. He was appointed to the position by Executive Lamont McClure, but under the Home Rule Charter, County Council must consent. He comes in at pay grade Group V, Step 4-D, salary $111,868.

McClure told Council the day before that "[t]here is no person more ready to be Sheriff of Northampton County than Chris Zieger is. He's done an amazing job as Acting Sheriff since Sheriff Johnston retired. ... There truly is no one more qualified to lead this department than Chris."

Northampton County has had a Sheriff since the county was first established in 1752. Deputy Nathan Ogden was the first law enforcement officer killed in the Commonwealth. He was shot in 1771 when attempting to arrest a fugitive during the Pennamite-Yankee War.

The Sheriff's office is charged with providing physical security for the courts; service of civil filings; fugitive location and arrests; administration of monthly Sheriff Sales; and prisoner transport.

Zieger, a 1991 graduate of Muhlenberg College, has been employed with the Sheriff's department since 1994. He started as a Deputy and worked his way up through the ranks to become the Chief Deputy in 2010. 

Northampton and Luzerne are the only Pennsylvania counties that appoint the Sheriff. In other counties, the office is an elected position. 

Has Your Local Sheriff Been Calling You?

I usually ignore calls marked as "potential spam," but accidentally answered one about a week ago. A fellow with a thick accent told me he was with the Sheriff's Office and had a warrant to bring me unless I paid him thousands of dollars. As someone who has been arrested numerous times for unpaid parking tickets, I knew exactly what to say. 

"Get in line!" Then I hung up. 

Actually, since moving away from the skyscrapers of Nazareth's bustling downtown, I've received no parking tickets. So aside from the spam designation on my caller ID, I Knew the call was bullshit. But many people my age and even younger are a bit more gullible. 

NorCo DA Steve Baratta has issued a news release to say his office is investigating numerous scam calls that are supposedly from the Sheriff's office. In those calls you are informed you failed to appear for a court date (that's the only kind of date I get), and you have to pay a certain amount of money. This will be returned of you show up at the next date.

As scams go, that's a bad one. A good scam appeals to our greed. This one is aimed at guilt, which probably appeals most to Catholics. 

In any event, the Sheriff's office wants you to know it is not a collection agency and would not call you this way.