In 1822, Lorain County was founded from parts of Huron, Cuyahoga and Medina counties and was named after the French Province of Lorraine at the request of Herman Ely, founder of the city of Elyria.

From it's birth in 1824, the Sheriff's Office has always been located in the seat of the county, Elyria. In 1893 the first jail was replaced for a more secure facility which was located at 3rd Street and Middle Ave across from the current administration building. In 1977 the overcrowded out-dated facility was replaced with the office in use today located on Murray Ridge Road.

Josiah Harris 1824-1832	F. Griffith 1932-1836	Edwin Byington 1836-1838 1842-1844	N. B. Gates 1838-1842
John Faxon 1844-1848	William Patterson 1848-1850	John H Boynton 1850-1854	Ashbel Culver 1854-1856
S. W. Lincoln 1856-1858	Harmon E Burr 1858-1862	Milo Harris 1862-1865	Mark Hitchcock 1865-1869
Xenophon Peck 1869-1873	R. E. Bramen 1873-1877	Chas Stone 1877-1879	H. E. Corning 1879-1883
Calvin Ension 1883-1887	M. A. Pounds 1887-1891	C. C. Ension 1891-1895	A. E. Lord 1895-1899
W. H. Warden 1899-1903	Chas Sailsbury 1903-1907	Robert Ward 1907-1911	Claude Bivin 1911-1915
W. M. Whitney 1915-1919	N. D. Backus 1919-1923	Fred Underhill 1923-1927	E. G. Mathews 1927-1929
C. E. Adams 1929-1933	Clarence W. Dick 1933-1937	WM. F. Grall 1937-1938	Carl R. Finegan 1938-1956
Vernon M. Smith 1956-1979	James A. Mertz 1979-1985	Martin J. Mahony 1985-2001	Phil R. Stammitti 2001-present