Current Sheriff Ross Litman began his service to St. Louis County as a Deputy Sheriff in 1992 as a patrol deputy. Hewas promoted to the rank of Investigator in 2000. In the fall of 2002 he decided to run for Sheriff of St. Louis County after learning that Sheriff Rick Wahlberg would not be seeking re-election.
Ross Litman was elected Sheriff of St. Louis County in November of 2002 and was sworn in as Sheriff of St. Louis County on Monday, January 6, 2003 by Judge Gerald Martin.
The duties of the sheriff are defined by State Statute 387.03.
The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office has adopted the Minnesota Law Enforcement Code of Ethics.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s office is responsible for all law enforcement activity in the unincorporated areas of St. Louis County and the Cities of Mountain Iron, Aurora, and Buhl/Kinney.
Law enforcement functions include: Patrol, Investigations, and Court Services.
The Sheriff's Office is responsible for providing boat and water safety enforcement, maintaining the County Jail and Range Lockups, providing emergency management for the County and overseeing the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Rescue Squad.
To fill the Sheriff’s statutory requirements of providing full service law enforcement and emergency service throughout our 7,000 square mile county, offices are kept at the following locations: Duluth, Hibbing, Virginia, Aurora, Mountain Iron, and Buhl/Kinney. In addition, resident deputy sheriffs are stationed in the outlying areas of Orr, Cook, Ely, and seasonally, Kabetogama.
The three major offices located in Duluth, Hibbing, and Virginia have personnel assigned to the following divisions: Administration, Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics Investigations, Criminal Records, and Court Services (civil process and warrants). In addition, the Duluth Office personnel are assigned to Transportation, Identification Bureau, Photo Lab, and the Emergency Management Division.
St. Louis County Public Safety Building
The St. Louis County Sheriff's new Public Safety Building opened December 21, 2007 in Duluth. The $6.4 million, 35,000-square foot structure houses the Sheriff's Law Enforcement Division (patrol and investigations), county-wide records, crime lab and digital imaging services. Before the move into the new building, the patrol and investigation units worked out of several facilities. The new building offers space that had been previously lacking, such as vehicle storage, processing and evidence rooms, interview rooms, and additional space for other law enforcement needs.
The other half of the new building is dedicated to emergency communications. All 911 calls for southern St. Louis County are answered at this new state-of-the-art dispatching center. The center also has the first 911 voice over internet protocol (VOIP) phone system in the State of Minnesota.