The Difference Between Judicial & Sheriff’s Office Explained

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Silo season 2.

While both the Judicial and the Sheriff’s office hold immense power in the central underground city in Silo, they seem to have different responsibilities. Since there are many political undertones in Silo‘s overarching storyline, the show has always created clear divisions between the power scales of the various institutions and segments that run Silo 18. However, despite establishing these distinctions between the governing forces, the Apple TV+ sci-fi show has also intentionally blurred the lines at times and confused viewers about who is more powerful than whom.

For instance, in Silo season 1, it was initially hard not to believe that the Mayor was at the top of the power hierarchy. However, as the story progressed, it became evident that the Head of IT, Bernard, was pulling all the strings from behind the scenes and had access to many forbidden sections of the Silo. Unlike the original Hugh Howey Silo books, the Apple TV+ show also emphasized the Judicial and Sheriff’s office’s role in the power dynamics, making it hard not to question how much authority they hold in Silo 18.

Judicial & The Sheriff’s Department Are Silo’s Two Law Enforcement Agencies

Both Departments Maintain Order In Silo 18

Since maintaining law and order is essential in Silo 18, it is not surprising that both the Judicial and the Sheriff’s departments play a crucial role in ensuring the legal stability of the underground city. Although their responsibilities are different, both, directly or indirectly, have to ensure that the people in the Silo remain compliant and do not get access to anything that lies beyond their rights according to the Pact. When it comes to their locations in the Silo, the two departments and their various sections are spread across multiple upper levels of the Silo.

The Judicial offices are primarily located on the Silo’s 14th floor. Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s main station lies on the topmost floor of the underground city. Sheriff Holston Becker initially led the Sheriff’s department but was replaced by Julliete after he willingly left the Silo. After Juliette’s departure, Paul Billings took the role. In the Judicial, Judge Meadows was the leading figure before Bernard murdered her and replaced her with Robert Sims.

Who Oversees Judicial & The Sheriff’s Office In Silo

Bernard Maintains Control Over Both

Even though the Judge and the Sheriff are the leading figures behind their respective departments, Mayor Bernard seems to have full control over what they do and how they handle things. Although the Judge was initially established to be second in command after the Mayor, Silo season 1 eventually revealed Meadows had little to no control over the major decisions in the Silo. Despite this, most regular citizens of the Silo believe that the Judicial holds immense power, explaining why Juliette initially approaches Judge Meadows for help in Silo season 1.

When it comes to the members of the Sheriff’s department, they loyally follow the Mayor’s orders even when the orders are seemingly questionable and against their own sense of justice. Like the Judicial, the Sheriff’s department comes off as an independent body that ensures the safety and security of the citizens. However, as seen in Silo season 2, Bernard keeps them wrapped around his finger and reaches out to them when the raiders, who serve as the enforcement arm of Judicial, fail to achieve the desired goals and results.

How Judicial & The Sheriff’s Operate Differently In Silo

They Have Significantly Different Responsibilities

As established in Silo, the Judicial’s agents are primarily responsible for enforcing the Pact, monitoring unsanctioned relationships, and categorizing and sanctioning relics. The Judicial gets to decide whether a relic is safe enough for a citizen to keep or needs to be secured as a red restricted relic no one can get access to. The top Silo department also seems to have control over the raiders. However, Silo season 2 seems to establish that the raiders are led by the Head of Security, who directly follows Mayor Bernard’s orders.

The Sheriff’s department seems to carry out all investigative procedures every time someone breaks the Silo’s laws or commits a major felony. People involved with the department also have to make arrests when someone goes against the law or ends up being in the Mayor’s bad books. When it comes to having the final say on an arrested citizen’s punishment and sentence, however, the Judicial’s Judge makes the final call. This would explain why Judge Meadows is able to reduce Lukas’s sentence in the Mines in Silo season 2’s early episodes.