Richard Dick – High Sheriff of Oxfordshire

Appleton 3rd April 2009: Richard Dick, of South Lawn, Netherton Road, Appleton, was sworn in at Oxford Combined Court Centre as Oxfordshire’s High Sheriff. Richard will hold this historic role for one year whilst also continuing his ‘day job’ as managing director and chairman of Oxfordshire company, W Lucy & Co Limited.

The ceremony was conducted in formal dress and it concluded with the hanging of a shield, which bears Richard’s coat of arms, alongside those of High Sheriff’s before him. The pikestaffs, which are still on display on the walls of a corridor in the court building, were once used to guard the Sheriff as he went about his business, but the centuries old function of High Sheriff is now largely representational and the post unpaid.

An independent non-political office, it enables the holder to bring together a wide variety of individuals and office holders for the good of the community the High Sheriff serves. To this end, as well as hosting law-based events, Richard will be using his year to support local charities associated with youth, in particular Trax, Pact and the Footsteps Foundation.

Charity website links are: -

• www.trax.org.uk
• www.pactcharity.org
• www.footstepsfoundation.com

Further information

1. From the Privy Council website

Appointment Process

High Sheriffs are appointed for a year. The system of appointing Sheriffs reflects the antiquity of the office. It is the responsibility of each High Sheriff to provide the names of people suitable to serve in the future. These names are added to the list of Sheriffs, and every November at a ceremony in the High Court the Lord Chief Justice and three other judges formally add as many new names for each county as are needed to ensure that there are Sheriffs in nomination for each of the next three years. A Sheriff needs to own property in the county for which he or she is nominated. The following March The Queen, at a meeting of the Privy Council, formally selects one of the three nominated Sheriffs to serve for the next twelve months by literally pricking a hole through his or her name on the List with a bodkin.

2. Form the www.highsheriffs.com website

The Office of High Sheriff is at least 1,000 years old having its roots in Saxon times before the Norman Conquest. It is the oldest continuous secular Office under the Crown. Originally the Office held many of the powers now vested in Lord Lieutenants, High Court Judges, Magistrates, Local Authorities, Coroners and even the Inland Revenue. The Office of High Sheriff remained first in precedence in the Counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord Lieutenant the prime Office under the Crown as the Sovereign's personal representative. Lord Lieutenants were created in 1547 for military duties in the Shires. The High Sheriff remains the Sovereign's representative in the County for all matters relating to the Judiciary and the maintenance of law and order.

Modern Precedence Modern precedence is defined by a Royal Warrant of 1904, as amplified by a Home Office Memorandum of 1928 whereby the High Sheriff takes precedence in the County immediately after the Lord Lieutenant except when precedence is deferred to a Lord Mayor, Mayor or Chairman of the Local Authority when they are undertaking municipal business in their own district.

Functions of the Office High Sheriffs are responsible in the Counties of England and Wales for duties conferred by the Crown through Warrant from the Privy Council including: Attendance at Royal visits to the County. The well being and protection of Her Majesty's High Court Judges when on Circuit in the County and attending them in Court during the legal terms. The annual appointment of an Under Sheriff. Acting as the Returning Officer for Parliamentary Elections in County constituencies. Responsibility for the proclamation of the accession of a new Sovereign. The maintenance of the loyalty of subjects to the Crown. The Warrant of Appointment as High Sheriff remains valid even on the death of the Sovereign. In practice some of these responsibilities are delegated to the professional services, for example the protection of the Judges and the maintenance of law and order are in the hands of the Chief Constable of Police.

Nominations for High Sheriff Nominations to the Office of High Sheriff are dealt with through the presiding Judge of the Circuit and the Privy Council for consideration by the Sovereign in Council. The annual nominations of three prospective High Sheriffs for each County are made in a meeting of the Lords of the Council in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice presided over by the Lord Chief Justice on the 12th November in each year. Subsequently the selection of new High Sheriffs is made annually in a meeting of the Privy Council by the Sovereign when the custom of 'pricking' the appointee's name with a bodkin is perpetuated. Eligibility for nomination and appointment of High Sheriff under the Sheriff's Act of 1887 excludes Peers of Parliament, Members of the House of Commons, European Parliament or Welsh Assembly; full-time members of the Judiciary, including Special Commissioners or Officers of Customs and Excise or Inland Revenue; Officers of the Post Office; Officers of the Navy, Army or Royal Air Force on full pay.