(left to right  Dudley Bowling, Charley J. Smith, James E. Dooley)

Sheriff Jim Dooley is only the third person to hold the office of Sheriff in Danville.  The first was Charlie Smith.  However, in the early days, the Sheriff was called the “City Sergeant.”  He later became known as the “High Constable.”  In 1973 the name was changed to “Sheriff,” and the office moved into the Courts and Jails Building in 1975.  Upon Charlie Smith’s retirement in 1987, Dudley Bowling was named Interim Sheriff.  He held that position for one year, before Jim Dooley was elected in 1988.  The office currently has 80 employees and serves approximately 48,500 citizens.

We take great pride in our beautiful city.  We are located on the Virginia/North Carolina border with the Dan River flowing through the city, which enabled us to get our start in textiles.