804
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
this history lesson is intended to convey. In England, it is true, the sheriff did perform "the king's business in the county." 1 W. Blackstone, Commentaries *339. But the English sheriff, as Blackstone described him, was far closer to the crown than his contemporary counterpart is to the central state government. While sheriffs were for a time chosen locally, "[t]his election," according to Blackstone, "was in all probability not absolutely vested in the [inhabitants of the counties], but required the royal approbation." Id., at *340. Eventually, the king chose the sheriff from a list proposed by the judges and other great officers. See id., at *340-*341.
Whatever English history may teach, "[t]hroughout U. S. history, the sheriff has remained the principal law enforcement officer in the county." G. Felkenes, The Criminal Justice System: Its Functions and Personnel 53 (1973); see id., at 52-53 (referring specifically to Alabama sheriffs). In the United States, "[i]n order to reserve control over the sheriff's department and its police functions, the people made the sheriff an elective officer." Id., at 53. It is this status as the county's law enforcement officer chosen by the county's residents that is at the root of the contemporary understanding of the sheriff as a county officer.
* * *
A sheriff locally elected, paid, and equipped, who autonomously sets and implements law enforcement policies operative within the geographic confines of a county, is ordinarily just what he seems to be: a county official. Nothing in Alabama law warrants a different conclusion. It makes scant sense to treat sheriffs' activities differently based on the presence or absence of state constitutional provisions of the limited kind Alabama has adopted.
The Court's Alabama-specific approach, however, assures that today's immediate holding is of limited reach. The Court does not appear to question that an Alabama sheriff may still be a county policymaker for some purposes, such
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