Bullitt County History

Sheriffs of Bullitt County

1796-1797 Benjamin Summers 5
1798-1799 Joseph Saunders
1800 Benjamin Summers
1803 Thomas Saunders
1804 Joseph Saunders
1805 James Caldwell
1807-1809 William Simmons
1810-1812 Nicholas Crist
1811-1814 Christian James Saunders
1814 James Shawler
1815-1816 Wilford Lee
1817 John A. Jones
1818-19 S. Swearingen
1820 George Hodge/Hedges
1825 James Alexander
1832 James Samuels
1833 M. P. Buky
1837-38 J. Peacock
1839-40 M. P. Saunders (Nathaniel)
1840 J. Peacock 7
1841 H. F. Kalfus & John Graham
1842 Wilford Lee & H. F. Kalfus
1843 John Graham
1846 James Samuels & Thomas J. Joyce 3
1847 H. C. Thomas
1849 Thomas Joyce
1850 William Wallace Swearingen 2
1851-1852 Henry C. Thomas
1854 Henry C. Thomas
1855 J. D. Peacock
1859 H. Trunnell
1860 Westley Phelps
1861-62 W. Phelps
1863 Wesley Phelps 1
1864 W. Phelps
1865-66 Thomas J. Hall
1867 W. Phelps

1870-74 J. F. Smith
1875-76 W. N. Simmons
1877 Warren Smith
1878-80 James H. Hays (Hayes)
1881 James Q. Hughes & J. H. Hays
1881-82 Warren Smith
1883-86 William Dawson 9
1887-90 J. W. Rogers (J.H. Rogers)
1891-94 W. B. Cundiff
1895-98 J. B. Monroe
1898-1901 James Franklin Collings
1902-05 Bert Hall
1906-09 W. B. Campbell
1910-13 J. B. Myers
1914-17 W. S. Rouse
1918-21 J. W. Croan 6
1922-25 A. L. Roby
1926-29 W. F. “Frank” Monroe 4
1930-33 P. H. Croan
1934-37 R. E. McAfee
1938-41 W. F. “Frank” Monroe 4
1942-45 Fred Smith
1946-49 Hobart L. Roby
1950-53 Allen R. Hawkins
1954-57 H. G. “Jack” Bleemel
1958-61 Tom Hibbs 8
1962 Hillary G. "Jack" Bleemel
1963-66 William R. French
1967-73 Leonard J. Light
1974-77 Buddy Shepherd
1978-81 George Rummage
1982-98 Lloyd Hill “Shot” Dooley
1999-2006 Paul Parsley
2007-2010 Donnie Tinnell
2011-28 Feb 2017 David Greenwell
1 Mar 2017-2018 Donnie Tinnell 10
2019 Walter A. Sholar

Resources

  1. Wesley Phelps, sheriff during the Civil War period, is buried behind the Melton’s IGA store in the Settler’s Gap Cemetery.
  2. William Wallace Swearingen, 1803-1869, is buried in the Shepherdsville Pioneer Graveyard.
  3. Thomas J. Joyce, 1811-1879, is buried in the Shepherdsville Pioneer Graveyard.
  4. Frank Monroe, before becoming sheriff twice, was also county jailer in 1918.
  5. The first fiscal court meeting of Bullitt County was held February28, 1797 at the home of Benjamin Summers. The county of Bullitt had been authorized by the state on December 13, 1796.
  6. J. W. Croan had been State Representative from Bullitt County in 1889-90.
  7. Might be John Jacob Peacock, born 12/8/1765 in New Jersey; died 11/3/1845 in Bullitt County. He migrated to Bullitt in 1785. Buried in Hessey Cemetery in Mt. Washington, on the corner of Highway 44 and Branham Way. Peacock’s daughter, May, married her cousin (also named John Peacock, who is buried in the Peacock Cemetery on Watergate Drive).
  8. Tom Hibbs was also jailer about 1943-1957. Shepherdsville Marshal 1962-1964. Died 1967.
  9. Dawson that lived at Pitts Point, and was a private in Co. H 6th Ky. Inf. CSA during the Civil War? He was a member of the “Orphan Brigade”. When he became sheriff, several of his deputies had also been members of the Orphan Brigade.
  10. David Greenwell resigned, effective 28 Feb 2017; Donnie Tinnell was appointed as interim sheriff to serve the remainder of the term.

This list of Sheriffs of Bullitt County, Kentucky has been drawn from several sources researched by Betty Darnell, Charlie Long, David Strange, Bobby Darnell, and Brenda Rittman.

If you, the reader, have an interest in any particular part of our county history, and wish to contribute to this effort, use the form on our Contact Us page to send us your comments about this, or any Bullitt County History page. We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you feel that we have misspoken at any point, please feel free to point this out to us.

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The Bullitt County History Museum, a service of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society, is located in the county courthouse at 300 South Buckman Street (Highway 61) in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. The museum, along with its research room, is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday. Admission is free. The museum, as part of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society, is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization and is classified as a 509(a)2 public charity. Contributions and bequests are deductible under section 2055, 2106, or 2522 of the Internal Revenue Code. Page last modified: 12 Sep 2020 . Page URL: bullittcountyhistory.org/bchistory/sheriffs.html