Which Counties Elect Their Prosecutors and Sheriffs in 2022?
Under the hood of the federal midterms, 2022 will shape criminal legal institutions around the nation.
There are more than 2400 elections for prosecutor and sheriff, starting in the Texas primary on March 1 and ending in possible general election runoffs in December.
Before we can get to who will run and what may change, the fundamental challenge is identifying which offices are even on the line. Below is the Bolts database of the local elections happening this year, prepared by Daniel Nichanian and updated as of March. (Note: As vacancies arise, new special elections may be added to the table.)
For more coverage, read our national primer of prosecutor and sheriff elections happening in 2022. Also read our primers on Arkansas, California, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, and Texas.
State | Prosecutor | Sheriff | Key Dates |
Alabama | One in each circuit, though Jefferson County’s circuit has two districts | One per county | Filing deadline: 1/28 Primaries: 5/24 & 6/21 |
Alaska | Not elected | Not elected | N/A |
Arizona | Maricopa County (special election) | No regular election | N/A |
Arkansas | One or two per judicial circuit | One per county | Filing deadline: 3/1 Primaries: 5/31 & 6/21 |
California | One per county (except Los Angeles) | One per county (except San Francisco) | Filing deadline: 3/11 Primary: 6/7 |
Colorado | No regular election | One per county (except in Bloomfield & Denver) | Filing deadline: 3/15 Primary: 6/28 |
Connecticut | Not elected | Not elected | N/A |
Delaware | Not elected | New Castle and Sussex counties | Filing deadline: 7/12 Primary: 9/13 |
Florida | Elections in the 6th judicial circuit (special, Pasco and Pinellas) and 20th circuit (Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, and Lee) | No regularly scheduled election | Filing deadline: 4/29 Primary: 8/23 |
Georgia | 7 circuits have regular elections: Atlantic (Bryan, Evans, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Tattnall), Douglas (Douglas), Enotah (Lumpkin, Towns,Union, White), Northeastern (Dawson, Hall), Paulding (Paulding), Rockdale (Rockdale), Waycross (Bacon, Brantley, Charlton, Coffee, Pierce, Ware). | No regularly scheduled election | Filing deadline: 3/11 Primaries: 5/24 & 6/21 |
Hawaii | No regularly scheduled election | Not elected | N/A |
Idaho | No regularly scheduled election | No regularly scheduled election | N/A |
Illinois | No regularly scheduled election | One per county | Filing deadline: 3/14 Primary: 6/28 |
Indiana | Every county votes | One per county | Filing deadline: 2/4 Primary: 5/3 |
Iowa | Every county votes | No regularly scheduled election | Filing deadline: 5/18 Primary: 6/7 |
Kansas | No regularly scheduled election | No regularly scheduled election | N/A |
Kentucky | Bell County (44th Circuit, special) | One per county | Filing deadline: 1/25 Primary: 5/17 |
Louisiana | No regularly scheduled election | No regularly scheduled election | N/A |
Maine | One per district | One per county, except Franklin and Sagadahoc | Filing deadline: 3/15 Primary: 6/14 |
Maryland | One per county/city | One per county/city | Filing deadline: 4/15 Primary: 7/19 |
Massachusetts | One per district | One per county | Filing deadline: 5/31 Primaries: 9/20 |
Michigan | No regularly scheduled election. Delta County will have a special election. | No regularly scheduled election | N/A |
Minnesota | One per county | One per county | Filing deadline: 5/31 Primary: 8/9 |
Mississippi | No regularly scheduled election | No regularly scheduled election | N/A |
Missouri | One per county | One per county | Filing deadline: 3/29 Primary: 8/2 |
Montana | One per county (except Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Butte-Silver Bow, Carter, Petroleum) | One per county (except Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Butte-Silver Bow) | Filing deadline: 3/14 Primary: 6/7 |
Nebraska | One per county | One per county | Filing deadline: 2/15 Primary: 5/10 |
Nevada | One per county/city | One per county/city | Filing deadline: 3/18 Primary: 6/14 |
New Hampshire | One per county | One per county | Filing deadline: 6/10 Primary: 9/13 |
New Jersey | Not elected | Counties that have regularly-scheduled elections: Burlington, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Warren | Filing deadline: 4/4 Primary: 6/7 |
New Mexico | No regularly scheduled election | One per county (except Lincoln) | Filing deadline: 2/1 Primary: 6/7 |
New York | Counties with regularly scheduled elections: Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Wyoming | Counties with regularly scheduled elections: Allegany, Broome, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Clinton, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Oswego, Otsego, Tompkins, Ulster | Filing deadline: 4/7 Primary: 6/28 |
North Carolina | All judicial districts have a regularly-scheduled election (except those that contain Harnett, Lee, Hoke, Moore, Alexander, Iredell, and Randolph counties, namely the 12th, 29th, 32th, and 37th) | One per county | Filing deadline: 3/4 Primary: 5/17 & 7/26 |
North Dakota | One per county (except Golden Valley, Steele) | One per county | Filing deadline: 4/11 Primary: 6/14 |
Ohio | No regularly scheduled election | No regularly scheduled election | N/A |
Oklahoma | One per judicial district | No regularly scheduled election | Filing deadline: 4/15 Primaries: 6/28 & 8/23 |
Oregon | Counties with regularly-scheduled elections: Clastop, Columbia, Crook, Deschutes, Gilliam, Grant, Klamath, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Sherman, Tilliamook, Union, Wallowa, Washington | Counties with regularly-scheduled elections: Benton, Coos, Crook, Gilliam, Jackson, Jefferson, Josephine, Linn, Multnomah, Polk, Wasco, Yamhill | Filing deadline: 3/8 Primaries: 5/17 |
Pennsylvania | No regularly scheduled election | No regularly scheduled election | N/A |
Rhode Island | Not elected | Not elected | N/A |
South Carolina | 6 circuits have regularly scheduled elections: —3rd (Clarendon, Lee, Sumter, Williamsburg) —5th (Kershaw, Richland) —6th (Chester, Fairfield, Lancaster) —12th (Florence, Marion) —13th (Greenville, Pickens) —15th (Georgetown, Horry) | 7 regularly scheduled elections: Berkeley, Beaufort, Allendale, Chesterfield, Cherokee, Hampton, Kershaw | Filing deadline: 3/30 Primaries: 6/14 & 6/28 |
South Dakota | No regularly scheduled election | One per county | Filing deadline: 3/29 Primaries: 6/7 & 8/16 |
Tennessee | One per county | One per county | Filing deadline: 4/7 Primary: 8/4 |
Texas | Counties of more than 250,000 residents: Bexar, Brazoria, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hays, Hidalgo, Jefferson, Lubbock, McLennan, Smith, Tarrant Other: Anderson, Austin, Bastrop, Bowie, Caldwell, Calhoun, Cass, Comal, Deaf Smith, Eastland, Edwards, Kimble, Gregg, Harrison, Jack, Jackson, Jasper, Kaufman, Kendall, Madison, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Navarro, Newton, Panola, Polk, Randall, Rockwall, San Jacinto, Taylor, Tyler, Upshur, Van Zandt, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Wichita, Wise, Wood, Yoakum | Counties with special elections: Eastland; Fisher; Gonzalez; Panola, Parker. | Filing deadline: 12/13 (2021) Primaries: 3/1 & 5/24 |
Utah | One per county | One per county | Filing deadline: 3/4 Primary: 6/28 |
Vermont | One per county | One per county | Filing deadline: 5/26 Primary: 8/9 |
Virginia | No regularly-scheduled election | No regularly-scheduled election | N/A |
Washington | One per county | One per county (except Pierce, Snohomish, Whatcom, which voted in 2020 or 2021) | Filing deadline: 5/20 Primary: 8/2 |
West Virginia | No regularly-scheduled election | No regularly-scheduled election | N/A |
Wisconsin | No regularly-scheduled election | One per county | Filing deadline: 6/1 Primary: 8/9 |
Wyoming | One per county | One per county | Filing deadline: 5/12 Primary: 5/27 |