The Greatest Sheriffs In TV History

List of the best TV sheriffs, including those who work to keep order and those who seek to disrupt it. These greatest TV sheriffs have worked tirelessly to keep citizens safe, track down criminals, and restore justice to their TV worlds. They’ve also done dirty back room dealings, arrested the innocent, and lied to citizens. Either way, they’ve made the list of the greatest sheriffs on TV.

 What makes a great TV sheriff? Often it’s a sense of honor; they’ll do everything in their power to make sure everyone around them is safe and the bad guys get what’s coming to them. This is often harder than it seems for the best TV sheriffs, especially since some of them must handle everything from the supernatural (think Rick Grimes on “The Walking Dead”) to incompetent deputies to betrayal. At the end of the day, though, these great television sheriffs are willing to put themselves at risk if it means upholding the law.

 Not all of the best television sheriffs are determined to keep peace, however. Some great TV sheriffs are villainous, the kind that viewers love to hate. They’re crooked, they take bribes, and they’re often driven by less-than-perfect motives, including greed or lust. A perfect example is the Sheriff of Nottingham from “Robin Hood” -- he may be on the side of the law, but he’s certainly not on the side of what’s right and just.

 This list includes the best sheriffs on TV, past or current. Some of the best TV sheriffs started out in their positions, some took them by force, and others worked their way up from the lower ranks. However they became TV sheriffs, viewers root for them or await their downfalls, making them memorable and worthy of being called the best sheriffs on TV shows.