| Agencyname: | Gaston County Sheriff's Office |
| Abbreviation: | GCSO |
| Patch: | NC - Gaston County Sheriff.png |
| Country: | United States |
| Countryabbr: | USA |
| Divtype: | State |
| Divname: | North Carolina |
| Subdivtype: | County (United States) |
| Subdivname: | Gaston |
| Map: | Map of North Carolina highlighting Gaston County.svg |
| Sizearea: | 364sqmi |
| Sizepopulation: | 190,365 (2000) |
| Police: | Yes |
| Local: | Yes |
| Headquarters: | Gastonia, North Carolina |
| Chief1name: | Chad Hawkins |
| Chief1position: | Sheriff |
| Website: | GCSO Website |
The Gaston County Sheriff's Office has full arrest powers in Gaston County both Criminal and Civil. The Sheriff is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer for Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. The Gaston County Sheriff's Office is responsible for operating the county jail system, protecting the county courthouse, serving civil and criminal documents, evictions, seizure of property or money as ordered by the courts, assisting other law enforcement agencies, service of criminal and Civil arrest processes, pursuing and arresting fugitives from legal actions taken through the courts.[1]
The Sheriff's Office is not primarily responsible for general law enforcement in Gaston County. Law enforcement within the incorporated municipalities of Gaston County is generally the responsibility of the police department of the particular municipality. Responsibility for law enforcement in unincorporated areas of the county rests with the Gaston County Police Department that was established in 1957.
Since 2007, the Gaston County Sheriff's office has been involved with a controversial federal immigration enforcement program. In the "287(g) program," federally trained deputies are authorized to check the immigration status of people who are arrested and taken to the Gaston County Jail. Gaston County is considered one of leading counties in North Carolina in the detention of illegal immigrants. Critics cite the fact that the primary charges filed against aliens in the Gaston County Jail are traffic violations.[2] From April 2007 through June 2008, 599 Gaston County inmates were interviewed about their immigration status and 488 processed for removal from the United States. Those 599 inmates were arrested, collectively, on 735 charges (698 misdemeanors and 37 felonies), including 422 traffic charges (99 for DWI).[3]