Ms. Sybil Jackson

Sybil Elizabeth Jermyn Jackson served as Ontario’s first woman sheriff from 1978 to 1986 in the District of Muskoka. This interview provides a comprehensive look at the evolution of the sheriff’s office during a period of significant change in Ontario’s court system. Jackson began as a clerk in the combined Sheriff’s and Registrar’s office in 1974, working under Jack McBride, and was promoted from within when she became sheriff—an unusual practice at the time when these positions were typically political appointments.

As sheriff, Jackson held multiple roles including Sheriff, Registrar of the Supreme Court, District Court Clerk, Surrogate Registrar, and Taxing Officer. She was responsible for court administration, jury selection, court security, property seizures, evictions, and managing a small but busy staff. Her tenure coincided with rapid growth in Muskoka’s legal community and increasing court workloads, yet the office struggled with outdated equipment and insufficient staffing due to government hiring freezes.

Jackson’s account illuminates the practical challenges of court administration in a rural district, the gradual modernization of court procedures, and the eventual elimination of the sheriff position as part of broader court reforms in the 1980s. Her successor, Lynne Wagner, was appointed in 1987, but the traditional sheriff role was phased out as court administration was restructured under new provincial legislation.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.