Louisa Facts and General History

THE COUNTY OF LOUISA

The County of Louisa, Virginia was formed in 1742 and was created out of Hanover County, Virginia. The county is named for Princess Louise of Great Britain, the youngest daughter of King George II, and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. The sheriff is a position established under the Virginia Constitution.

The county is located between the cities of Richmond, Charlottesville, and Fredericksburg, and according to the census for 2019, was estimated to be home to approximately 37,600 residents, living on approximately 511 square miles. In the County, there are approximately 190 miles of primary highways, 650 miles of secondary roadways, and over 25 miles of non-hard surface roads to be patrolled on a regular basis. Interstate 64 is a heavily traveled thoroughfare which crosses through the County. The volume of traffic on these transportation arteries, highways and secondary roads will increase as commercial and residential growth occurs in the County.

LOUISA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office was established during the creation of the County of Louisa and has been protecting the citizens of Louisa County since 1742, with the mission of ensuring public safety and maintaining the quality of life. Though how we patrol, and the duties that we perform today are much different than 278 years ago, our mission has stayed the same, ensuring public safety and maintaining the quality of life of our citizens. The sheriff is elected every four years. There have been 59 elected sheriffs in Louisa County. The current Sheriff is Donald “Donnie” Lowe, who was first elected in 2020.

The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office is the main provider of law enforcement for Louisa County, Virginia.  We are a full service sheriff’s office, with responsibilities that include responding to calls for service, proactively patrolling the county 24 hours a day, civil process, and courthouse/courtroom security. The members of the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office are committed to serving the people of Louisa County with integrity and professionalism. We constantly strive to work towards improving public safety and the law enforcement services we provide to the people of Louisa County, and to always be an integral part of our community.

Our organization is currently divided into five different divisions, Administration, Civil & Court Security, Criminal Investigations, Uniformed Patrol and Special Operations. Each division has a role in providing for the sheriff’s office and ultimately to the residents and businesses in our jurisdiction.  The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office is located in the Town of Louisa.