The Office of the Sheriff, City and County of Philadelphia is committed to serving and protecting the lives, property and rights of all within a framework of high ethical standards and professional conduct at all time.
The Office is responsible to provide safety to all that enter Philadelphia courtrooms including, judges, juries, defendants, witnesses, courtroom personnel and the public.
It is also responsible to manage all First Judicial Court ordered foreclosures of property. Foreclosures of property include executing mortgage and tax sales all in an ethical, honest, transparent and respectful manner while offering dignity to all involved in the procedure.
How to File for Service
A protection order is received by the Sheriff’s office either: (1) from the plaintiff, (2) courts from another jurisdiction or (3) Sheriff Office in Pennsylvania and/or from another state. The protection order will have instructions indicating to whom and where service is provided. The Deputy will prepare an affidavit of service.
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal
Biography of Sheriff Rochelle Bilal
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal was sworn into a four-year term to lead the Office of the Sheriff for the City and County of Philadelphia on Jan. 6, 2020. She is the first elected African American woman sheriff, in the 181-year history of the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office. In fact, Sheriff Bilal is the department’s, first-ever elected woman.
Bilal, a 27-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, formerly served as Secretary of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP and she is the former President of the Guardian Civic League, a law enforcement community oversight organization, made up of over 2,500 active and retired Philadelphia police officers.
Currently, she serves as an appointed member of, Philadelphia City Council’s Special Committee on Child Separations.
As a Philadelphia police officer, Sheriff Bilal served in units that focused on sex crimes and drug trafficking, including work in HIDTA (high intense drug and traffic area), a joint task force with the FBI and DEA.
She also spent time in patrol and taught recruits at the Philadelphia Police Training Center, where she launched the Steer Straight initiative. Steer Straight, which is still in existence today, helps new police recruits to identify and avoid situations that may pose potential risks to their future careers in law enforcement. Bilal retired from Philadelphia Police Department in 2013.
Sheriff Bilal’s experience also includes time spent as the director of public safety in Colwyn Borough, where she managed the police and fire departments while developing a community outreach program for the Colwyn Police Department.
Sheriff Bilal is an advocate of criminal justice reform and encourages community engagement and outreach with her office. As sheriff, she will implement policies and procedures to improve the efficiency and engagement of the more than 400 employees of the department. The Sheriff’s Office has a $26 million + budget and oversees court security, prisoner transportation to and from the court, as well as managing sheriff’s sales, court-ordered sales of foreclosed and tax-delinquent properties.
Sheriff Bilal is a lifelong resident of Philadelphia.
Departments
Main Filing Desk
100 South Broad Street 5th Floor
215 686-3559 or 215 686-3560
Civil Enforcement Unit
100 South Broad Street 5th Floor
215-686-3542 or 215-686-3544
Criminal Justice Center
1301 Filbert Street
215-683-7900
Deputy Training Unit
100 South Broad Street 5th Floor
215-686-3549
Warrant Unit PFA’s
100 South Broad Street 5th Floor
215-686-3574
Family Court / Domestic Operations
1501 Arch Street
215-686-3526
Human Resources
100 South Broad Street 5th Floor
215-686-3540 / 3541
Internal Affairs
100 South Broad Street 5th Floor
215-686-3537
Office of Communications
100 South Broad Street 5th Floor
215-686-3572
Constituent Services
100 South Broad Street 5th Floor
215-683-4876
Post Adjudication
100 South Broad Street 5th Floor
215-686-3537
Prisoner Security
Criminal Justice Center
1301 Filbert Street
215-683-7900
Real Estate
100 South Broad Street 5th Floor
215-686-3565 / 3566
Traffic Court
800 Spring Garden Street
215-686-1574
Mission Statement
Mission
The Sheriff’s Office of the City and County of Philadelphia is committed to service, procedural justice, and the sanctity of human life. Our duties encompass protecting the lives, property and rights of all people within a framework of service, uncompromising integrity, fiscal responsibility, professionalism, vigilance, and bias free conduct.
Vision
The Sheriff’s Office of the City and County of Philadelphia, a law enforcement agency committed to excellence, will become a national benchmark in the professional delivery of sheriff related services under our purview; we strive for high performance, equally high customer satisfaction, and accept and integrate innovative ideas to remain dynamic and flexible.
Values
- Service above self
- Integrity without compromise
- Professionalism on/off the job Vigilance in safeguarding our stakeholders
Guiding Principles:
establishes our strategic direction and associated goals for the next four years:
- Professionalism and Organizational Excellence
- Community Engagement and Partnerships
- Operational Improvements/Performance Metrics
- Technology Development and Infrastructure Expansion
File A Complaint
Responsibilities of the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office
The duties of the Office are interesting, often complex, sometimes dangerous but rarely boring.
Our deputies provide protection to witnesses, juries, judges, defendants and the public in six court buildings five days a week – 52 weeks a year. Every day that courts are in session deputies transport 350 – 450 prisoners for court appearances and trials from jails in the region.
The Sheriff’s Fugitive Warrant Unit works aggressively to get more violent criminals off the street by reducing the backlog of about 3,200 warrants. Warrants for arrest were issued for men and women charged with everything from murder, assault, domestic abuse to child molestation.
While we do not initiate the lists of properties that go to Sheriff’s Sales we are expected to carry out the orders of the First Judicial District. That process begins when a petition is filed with the courts by a lender or party owed money on a property and a WRIT is issued. Our office is expected to carry out the sale based on the WRIT. Currently we handle between 4,200 and 4,800 new foreclosures a year and between 4,000 and 4,200 tax sales a year.
