prisoners. He had the authority to decide on and collect bail, and he
was liable for a fine if a prisoner escaped. He appears generally to
have taken his responsibility for the county jail lightly, for there
is evidence of widespread contracting for others to provide the guard
for the jail and the food for the prisoners. Other officials who were
part of the colonial county government performed specialized
functions, but unlike the clerk and sheriff, took no part in the
general administration of county business.

The office of county surveyor was created early in the seventeenth
century to meet the obvious need for accurate measurement and
recording of land. Initially, the surveyor was appointed by the county
court, and sometimes treated as an additional duty of the clerk or
sheriff. However, by the end of the eighteenth century a significant
change had occurred in the legislation which called for appointment by
the governor after a candidate had been examined and approved by the
faculty of the College of William & Mary. By 1783, therefore, the
surveyor became the first county official to be required to show
professional competence as a condition of appointment.[58]

The office of constable appeared in 1645, and may be described as
similar to that of sheriff, except that it served the court of a
single justice.[59] Constables were appointed by the justices of the
county court and served in precincts delineated by the justices.

The function of coroner in colonial Virginia was similar in all
essential respects to that in England at that time, that is, to
represent the Crown by investigating the circumstances of unexplained
deaths. Originally, this function was performed by the justices,
acting without fee. However, by the 1670's, coroners were being
appointed by the governor, and authorized to collect fees for their
services from the estate of the deceased or, lacking that, from the
county. In the absence of the sheriff, the coroner could be designated
by the court to perform the duties of the sheriff's office.[60]

Roughly a century after the appearance of the coroner, the next
significant addition to the machinery of county government came with
the creation of the commissioners of the tax. Forced by the increased
military expenses of the 1760's and 1770's[61] to find new sources of
revenue, Virginia created an official to take over the specialized
function of assessment of property for tax purposes. He was elected b