I have heard some wind of this type of organizational effort at the county level.  The Sheriff IS the Constitutional Law Officer for the County.  The definition of the office of Sheriff according to www.sheriffs.org follows:

OFFICE: "A right, and correspondent duty, to exercise public trust as an office. A public charge of employment... the most frequent occasions to use the word arise with reference to a duty and power conferred on an individual by the government, and when this is the connection, public office is a usual and more discriminating expression. . . in the constitutional sense, the term implies an authority to exercise some portion of the sovereign power either in making, executing, or administering the laws.

The Office of Sheriff is not simply another "department" of county government. The internal operation of an Office of Sheriff is the sole responsibility of the elected Sheriff. County department heads are subordinate to a county governing body, because a "department" is truly only a division of county government.  The Office of Sheriff is a statutory/constitutional office having exclusive powers and authority under state law and/or state constitution. These inherent powers are not subject to the dictates of a local county governing body.

The Office of Sheriff has inherent common law powers and sovereignty granted under a state's constitution and/or state law.  It is different from a county department which derives its limited authority from whatever is delegated to is by statute or by state constitution.

The use of the term "Department" implies being a subordinate unit of  government (i.e. subordinate to local government – "delegated" authority from county government to a department). The use of the term "Office" implies inherent powers and independent sovereignty.

The Strong Watchman

Original Post at tpmmuckraker

Montana Group Demands Local Leaders Boot Feds, Form Militia, Protect Guns

A group of nearly 200 "extremely concerned citizens" in a small Montana county are demanding that local leaders fill out a "questionnaire" pledging to form a local militia, prohibit mandatory vaccinations, boot the EPA out of town, allow citizens to bear any type of gun, and require federal government employees to get written approval before approaching "any Citizen."

Organized in part by a group called Celebrating Conservatism, which is lead by a woman who quit the state GOP after complaining of "fake" Republicans, the questionnaire was presented this week to the county commissioners and sheriff of Ravalli County, according to the local Republicnewspaper.

Celebrating Conservatism's worldview appears to be rooted in the militia movement. Last year ithosted Jack McLamb, head of the Idaho-based Police and Military Against the New World Order, which agitates against "world government rule."

Ravalli County, population 35,000, sits about an hour south of Missoula in southwestern Montana.

The Ravalli questionnaire, which you can readhere, demands that local officials pledge:

• To form and command a county militia of all citizens 18 or older. However, it adds: "Note: Women must serve, but not in a combat capacity unless the men are in danger of being overrun."

• "To absolutely prohibit all efforts, Federal, State or city, that infringe upon the right to keep and bear arms including the requirement to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon and restrictions on the kinds of weapons one may possess and carry, eg., fully automatic, silenced, length of barrel, length of blade, opening mechanism of a knife, etc."

• To require federal employees to obtain written permission from the sheriff before approaching local citizens.

• "To prohibit mandatory vaccinations."

• To prohibit federal employees from collecting census information beyond the number of adults in each home.

• To block all Environmental Protection Agency employees from entering the country. (We should note here that the editor of the Republic tells us he knows of no EPA activity in the county.)

• "To use the term 'peace officer' in lieu of the current law enforcement officer.'"

Robert Gairing of Stevensville, a town south of Missoula, told the Republic "we need to know definitively whether or not our public officials will defend their oath and our constitutional rights and be willing to take positive constitutional action on our behalf."

Reached today by TPMmuckraker, Gairing, who helped compose the questionnaire, said he decided to stop talking to media because "it's way too complicated to give justice to in an interview." He added that no elected offiicals have filled out the questionnaire yet.