In 1853, Andrew Broder was elected the first Sheriff of Alameda County.
 

The first known original records of prisoners booked in Alameda County were dated in 1874.
 

Sheriff Harry Morse (1863-1877) developed the Alameda County Sheriff's Department concept of the Identification Bureau.
 

During the early 1900's, prisoners were permitted 20-minute visits; attorneys' visits were an exception to the 20-minute limit.
 

In 1910, the first numbering system was established in the booking process.
 

In 1927, the 5th Street Jail in the City of Oakland housed 122 male and 4 female prisoners.
 

In 1936, a Court House costing $2 million was built on Fallon Street in the City of Oakland, and 79 prisoners changed their address to 1225 Fallon Street.
 

In 1939, a Jail Farm Compound was established in San Leandro.
 

In the early 1930's, Sheriff Howard Gleason (1940-1963) modernized patrol vehicles, with the addition of 2-way radios and established the Northern California Training Center.
 

On 12/21/46, Sheriff Howard Gleason moved 100 inmates into Camp Schoemaker, the former military Training Center and renamed the new county jail: Santa Rita Branch of the County Jail.
 

In 1973, the Sheriff's Department, and all city police departments, adopted CORPUS, a criminal oriented record unified system used to record, store and retrieve criminal justice histories of prisoners.
 

In 1973, Sheriff Frank Madigan (1963-1975) opened the Work Furlough Center on East 12th Street in Oakland. This was the only facility in the state designed specifically for inmate work release programs.
 

In 1982, Sheriff Glenn Dyer (1979-1987) implemented contract police services for the City of Dublin.
 

On May 12, 1984, Sheriff Glenn Dyer opened the North County Jail in the City of Oakland.
 

1987, Sheriff Charles Plummer (1987- 2007) was sworn in as Sheriff.  He immediately implemented the Standards of Performance (Cardinal Sins), they are:

Severe discipline, up to and including termination, will be meted out to those employees culpable of the following misconduct:

1. Accepting gratuities of any sort or description;
    

2. Making disparaging utterings or writing disparaging ethnic remarks, whether or not intended as humor;
    

3. Misrepresenting or lying in instances involving official County business, either orally or in writing;
    

4. Consumption of controlled substances or being present where controlled substances are being used, or knowingly becoming intoxicated through the use of prescribed drugs;
    

5. Engaging in any form of sexual harassment; this includes any unwanted comments or contact as defined in sexual harassment policy.

In January 1989, Sheriff Charles Plummer entered into a contract to provide police services to the A.C. Transit District in Alameda County.
 

In January 1989, Sheriff Charles Plummer became the Coroner and Public Administrator.
 

On September 2, 1989, Sheriff Charles Plummer opened the new Santa Rita Jail and transferred 2000 inmates from the old jail.  With the opening of the new jail he also eliminated smoking and weight lifting for the inmates.  The Santa Rita Jail is built on 110 acres, and measures 1/4 mile wide and 1/2 mile long.
 

On 10/17/89, Sheriff Charles Plummer, as coordinator of Region II, implemented the Mutual Aid System for the Loma Prieta Earthquake.
 

In April of 1990, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office's health care provider, Prison Health Services (PHS), received dual accreditation through The National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) and the California Medical Association (CMA).  PHS, founded in 1978, has been providing accredited, contract health care to inmates throughout the nation.
 

Sheriff Charles Plummer coordinated 702 Mutual Aid personnel during the East Bay Hills Firestorm, from 10/21 to 10/24/91.
 

On August 3, 1996, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office received national accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA).
 

On August 10, 1996, Sheriff Charles Plummer entered into a contract to provide police services to the Peralta Community College District.
 

In April 1999, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit received national accreditation through the Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board.
 

On September 1, 2001, Sheriff Charles Plummer entered into a contract to provide police services to portions of the Oakland International Airport.
 

On January 28, 2004, Sheriff Charles Plummer began a new Marine Patrol Unit that patrols the San Francisco Bay waters around the Oakland International Airport and the Port of Oakland in a 32-foot, custom vessel named the August Vollmer.
 

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office received national accreditation of its two correctional facilities, the Santa Rita and North County jails, through the American Correctional Association (ACA) on August 10, 1998. Earning ACA accreditation resulted in what is commonly referred to in accreditation circles, as the "Triple Crown" of accreditation (ACA, NCCHC/CMA, and CALEA). This prestigious award, due to the hard work and perseverance it takes to obtain each one, has only been achieved by 12 other agencies in the nation. The Alameda County Sheriff's Office will be the 13th agency in the nation to achieve the "Triple Crown," and the only agency west of the Rocky Mountains to do so.
 

2007, Sheriff Gregory J. Ahern (2007 - Present) was sworn in as Sheriff.