A sheriffdom is a judicial district in Scotland.

Since 1 January 1975 there have been six sheriffdoms. Previously sheriffdoms were composed of groupings of counties. New boundaries defined sheriffdoms in reference to regions, districts and islands areas which were then to be created on 16 May 1975.

The sheriffdoms were redefined again with effect from 1 April 1996, when new local government areas were created. The boundaries of four sheriffdoms were unchanged. The boundaries of the other two were altered, so as to transfer an area around Chryston from the sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin to the sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway. Elsewhere boundaries were simply redefined by reference to new local authority areas and electoral wards.

Sheriffdom	Counties comprised in sheriffdom from January 1, 1975	Regions, Island areas and Districts comprised in sheriffdom from May 16, 1975	Areas comprised in sheriffdom from April 1, 1996
Glasgow and Strathkelvin	That part of the County of Lanark comprising the sheriff court district of Glasgow	The districts of City of Glasgow and Strathkelvin	City of Glasgow, part of East Dunbartonshire (wards 11-26); and part of South Lanarkshire (wards 62-74)
Grampian, Highland and Islands	The counties of Inverness, Nairn, Ross and Cromarty, Moray, Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney, Zetland, Aberdeen, Kincardine and Banff; and that part of the County of Argyll comprised in the existing sheriff court district of Fort William	The regions of Grampian and Highland, the Islands areas of Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles	Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Highland, Moray, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands and Western Isles
Lothian and Borders	The counties of East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, Berwick, Peebles, Roxburgh and Selkirk	The regions of Lothian and Borders	City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian and Scottish Borders
North Strathclyde	The counties of Renfrew, Argyll (without the part comprised in the existing sheriff court district of Fort William), Dunbarton, Bute and that part of the county of Ayr comprising the sheriff court district of Kilmarnock	The districts of Argyll and Bute, Dumbarton, Clydebank, Bearsden and Milngavie, Renfrew, Eastwood, Inverclyde, Cunninghame and Kilmarnock and Loudoun	Argyll and Bute, North Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire; part of East Ayrshire (wards 1-20); and part of East Dunbartonshire (wards 1-10)
South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway	The counties of Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Wigtown; that part of the county of Ayr comprising the sheriff court district of Kilmarnock	The region of Dumfries and Galloway,; the districts of Monklands, Cumbernauld, Hamilton, Motherwell, East Kilbride, Kyle and Carrick and Cumnock and Doon Valley	South Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway and North Lanarkshire; part of East Ayrshire, (wards 21-30) and part of South Lanarkshire (wards 1-61)
Tayside, Central and Fife	The counties of Perth, Angus, Stirling, Clackmannan, Fife and Kinross	The regions of Tayside, Central and Fife	Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee City, Falkirk, Fife, Perth and Kinross and Stirling

Each sheriffdom has a full-time Sheriff Principal. Sheriffdoms are divided into Sheriff Court District, each with one or more sheriff.

Sheriffdoms were the origin of the counties of Scotland.

In the 19th century, the sheriffdoms were grouped, and the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica reports that there were only 15 sheriffs of Scotland. [221702]

Notes and references