Jerry Sheridan was born and raised in Queens NY. His mother was a stay at home mom and his father a NY Police Officer.  His attendance at Catholic School from 1st grade thru 12th grade gave him what he feels gave me a solid educational background.  Jerr1976y is from Fountain Hills, Az. where he moved to in 1976.

Jerry attended the Maricopa County Sheriff ‘s Office Reserve Deputy Academy in 1976.  In 1978 he was hired as a detention officer and then a deputy sheriff where he attended the Phoenix Police Academy.  He worked as a patrol deputy and after five years Jerry was promoted to Corporal, assigned a squad and transferred to District 4, a newly created substation that served the northeastern portion of the county. Jerry moved up the ranks over the years completing the administrative duties of the District while still working the road.

A barricade situation changed his life forever.  this is where he met his wife Stacie who was the daughter of one of the deputies.  His wife is also his best friend.

Jerry was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1993 where he was assigned to District 3, the northwestern part of the County.

A few years later Jerry received a call to come see Sheriff Arpaio right away. On his hour drive down from Cave Creek he was concerned about why the sheriff with whom he had had little contact wanted to see him. Sheriff Arpaio wanted to promote him to Chief of Patrol. What Sheriff Arpaio told him he wanted Jerry to do was short yet powerful. The Sheriff said he wanted Jerry to do two things; make sure your deputies are out arresting all the bad guys they can while taking good care of all the good people like changing someone’s tire or getting a cat out of a tree, that is one; two, make sure the deputies are having fun doing number one. Jerry asked the chief deputy Jadel Roe why Sheriff Arpaio picked him for the job. She told him it was because about a month before Arpaio asked him a question and Jerry told him how he really felt not what the Sheriff wanted to hear even after the Sheriff argued with him he did not back down. She told Jerry the Sheriff respected people like that.

A few years later Jerry was promoted to Chief of Custody. The MCSO jail system makes up 75% of the personnel and budget of the Office. It was a challenging job as the responsibility for the largest construction project ever undertaken by a county government was placed in his lap. Two mega jails, a food factory, laundry, distribution center, training center and thousands of officers had to be designed, planned, built and hired. These jails are now know as 4th Avenue Jail and the Lower Buckeye Jail. Jerry was able to finally settle the over 30 year long Federal litigation involving inmate rights originally known as Hart v Hill. During the twelve years Jerry was the Chief of Custody he was appointed to the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board first by Governor Hull and two subsequent governors, he considers this the highlight of his career. He also obtained his Masters in Organizational Management and graduated from the FBI National Academy.

In 2010 Sheriff Arpaio asked Jerry to become his Chief Deputy. Jerry was almost immediately inundated with federal litigation, audits, administrative issues and reorganization. The line of duty death of Deputy Coleman in January 2012 resulting from a violent gun battle was the most painful time for him. The Melendrez litigation which had been in progress many years prior to Jerry becoming chief deputy came to a head. It was a punishing time for Jerry but he feels the six years, as difficult as they were, prepared him to become Sheriff.