Sheriff

Overview

A Message from the Sheriff

I want to thank you for taking the time and stopping by the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office website. The Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office is located in beautiful downtown Keene, New Hampshire. We serve a population of approximately 70,000 people covering over 707 square miles. The County includes 23 towns located in the southwestern corner of New Hampshire bordering Vermont and Massachusetts. The men and women of the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office are committed to serving the people of Cheshire County with the utmost respect and professionalism.

Sheriff Eli Rivera 

As members of the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office, we are committed to serving with integrity and dignity, safeguarding through compassion, and ensuring our community is safe to live, work, play, and visit while preserving the public’s trust and confidence.

We will be recognized for our exemplary service, professionalism, and dedication to the people we serve as we adapt to emerging trends and contribute to the quality of life for all.

We will adopt a more reasonable culture of the guardian mindset as we seek to safeguard the communities we serve. Service over crime-fighting, communications over command, cooperation over compliance, legitimacy over authority, restraint over control, stability over action.

We will accomplish this by providing and improving our civil process services, prisoner transportation, court security, public safety communications, and our responsibility as law enforcement Deputies.

Cheshire County High Sheriff’s

Sheriff Eliezer “Eli” Rivera is Cheshire County’s 13th elected Sheriff since 1879

New Hampshire was divided in 5 counties in 1771, Cheshire County being one. In 1827 Cheshire County was divided into two Cheshire and Sullivan Counties. Prior to 1878 High Sheriff’s were appointed.

During 1771 – 1877 the High Sheriff was appointive1771-1776Josiah Willard1776-1782Enoch Hale1783-1789Samuel Hunt1799-1832Thomas Bellows1832-1842Elijah Carpenter1843-1847George Huntington1847-1852John Foster1853-1855Wareham R. Platts1856-1865Bolivar Lovell1866-1971George W. Holbrook1872-1874Elisha F. Lane1875-1876Edward P. Kimball1877-1879Ralph Holt

CHAPTER 23 AN ACT TO REGULATE THE CHOICE OF STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS UNDER THE AMENDED CONSTITUTION

Section 2 – … sheriff … shall be elected in November 1878 for each county in the state who upon being duly qualified shall assume the duties of their respective offices on the first Wednesday of June 1879 …

1st 1879-1880 Ralph Holt
Holt was the first elected Sheriff in Cheshire County. He was elected to Office Nov 1878, took office in June 1879 until January 1880, when he had to had to step down due to his age (70), but remain with the Sheriff’s Office as a Deputy Sheriff for many years after.

2nd 1880-1894 Horace A. Perry (R)
3rd 1895-1910 William S. Tuttle (R)
4th 1911-1930 Edward H. Lord (R)
5th 1930-1943 Frank Bennett (R)
6th 1943-1954 Arthur N. Jennison (R)
7th 1954-1970 Frank Walker (R)
8th 1970-1977 George Schnyer (R)
9th 1977-1988 Kenneth Lysitt (R)
10th 1988-1994 William Moffitt (R)
11th 1994-1998 Douglas K. Fish (R)
12th 1999-2012 Richard A. Foote (R)
13th 2013-current Eliezer “Eli” Rivera (D)
Rivera is the first elected democratic Sheriff in Cheshire County since 1879, and the first personal of color elected in the State of New Hampshire.

Sheriff Eli Rivera has been researching the history of the Sheriff’s Office with the help of the Historical Society of Cheshire County. If you have any information about the Sheriff’s Office please feel free to reach out to Sheriff Eli Rivera at erivera@co.cheshire.nh.us.

John Stratton Walker, Sr. was born March 28, 1831 in Langdon, New Hampshire to Edmund Walker and Adeline Howard.

He married Emma Evans and had a child named John Stratton Walker (Jr).

Deputy Walker was a farmer and a Cheshire County Deputy Sheriff.

On March 16, 1886, Deputy Sheriff John Stratton Walker, Sr. was assisting Emma Josephine Nash remove some of her belongings from her home in Walpole, New Hampshire.  She was in an abusive relationship and the abuse led Emma Josephine Nash to start divorce proceeding at the Cheshire County Superior Court, known then as the Cheshire County Supreme Court.  She asked for the assistance of the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office with the removal of her belongings, known today as a civil stand by.  A news article during that era indicates that Deputy Walker was sent for to remove her personal effects, which could be an indication that he was summoned to the home to assist Emma Josephine Nash in his capacity as a Deputy Sheriff.  Her husband, Charles A. Jennings, was cooperative during the removal of the property until the wagoneer who was assisting with the removal of Emma’s property accidentally loaded a box that Mr. Jennings did not want removed from the home.  He became enraged and attacked Deputy Walker with an axe striking him in the head and arm, causing severe injuries to Deputy Walker.  Deputy Walker was not able to recuperate from his injuries and died on April 22, 1886 of blood poisoning and typhoid fever.

On May 19, 2016, High Sheriff Eliezer “Eli” Rivera during the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Memorial Service recognize Deputy Walker as a line-of duty death, making Deputy Walker the first recorded line-of-duty death in New Hampshire.

On May 20, 2016, during the New Hampshire Law Enforcement Officer’s Ceremony, Deputy Walker was inducted onto the New Hampshire Law Enforcement Memorial Wall and recognized as the first line-of-duty death in New Hampshire.
Visit the Officer Down Memorial Page for Deputy Walker

Just In Case

Introducing our new program, Just in Case (County-wide registry of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related disorders.)

Sponsored Programs

Special Olympics New Hampshire logo with stylized human figures forming a circle around a central figure.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics

Red abstract symbol with a martini glass and car keys to the left of the word "madd" in black, representing Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Mother's Against Drunk Driving

Seal of Cheshire County, New Hampshire, featuring a map of the county’s towns, the year 1769, and text reading “County of Cheshire New Hampshire Established 1769.”.

Care Trak System For Wanderers

Services

Civil Process Fees

Civil Process Fees

Programs

A simple graphic of a 600x400 pixel image with a 3:2 ratio and 100 resolution, featuring mountains and a sun.

Just In Case

The Just In Case Program is a comprehensive county-wide registry of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related disorders. […]

Police Communications

phone

Main:

(603) 352-4238

phone

Police Communications:

(603) 355-2000