Establishing 'Good Governance': Government and Administration under Henry VII

Local Government

The Sheriffs

• Sheriff was appointed annually from among the local landowners in each county.
• Was the closest thing that Tudor England had to a police officer.
• Kept the king's peace and was responsible for the arrest, detention and prosecution of criminals. 
• Was as much as a judge as a law officer and he had his own court where he administered the King's laws.
• Also organised and supervised elections to parliament and MPs could only take their seats if they had the sheriff's writ to confirm their election.
• Also had a military role. 
• Responsible for supervising the muster of the militia, local men who were drafted to serve a period in the service to the crown. 
• Although sheriffs continued to play an important role in local justice and administration, they had gradually been replaced by the Justices of the Peace as the chief local government officers.

The Justices of the Peace (JPs)

• Were appointed annually from among the local land owners.
• The average number commissioned for a county being about 18.
• Local bishop would usually head the list of those appointed.
• Lay land owners followed strict order of social precedence. 
• Some of the largest landowners were sometimes chosen to be JP's.
• Knights and esquires carried out the majority of JP's duties on a daily basis. 
• JPs were resposible for;

- The defence of public order

- Implementing the various statues of the social and economic nature, such as those concerned with the regulation of wages and the guilds.

- Dispensing justice to the criminals brought before them by the sheriffs. 4 times a year they were required to meet in Quarter Sessions so that they could try those accused of the more serious crimes - except treason, which was…