Alaska does not have counties, Sheriff’s Offices or Deputies. The Alaska State Troopers provide complete law enforcement services for areas outside of the traditional “city limits” of most Alaska cities.

Why doesn’t Alaska have sheriffs?

Because Alaska has no counties, therefore no county police or sheriffs, in its constitution, the troopers also handle civil papers and mental health custody orders and serve as police throughout mostly all of rural Alaska.

Do sheriffs outrank police?

Sheriff’s departments enforce the law at the county level. That doesn’t mean state police outrank or give orders to the county cops. The two have separate spheres of authority, though they may work together.

This is a list of law enforcement agencies in the state of Alaska. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 2008 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, the state had 50 law enforcement agencies employing 1,298 sworn police officers, about 189 for each 100,000 residents.