Much has changed within the Orange County Sheriff's Office since the first sheriff was elected more than a hundred and fifty years ago. Every sheriff elected since then has strived to improve the agency. Today the Orange County Sheriff's Office has a budget of over 140 million dollars and over 2,400 employees. Sheriff Kevin Beary is the current Orange County Sheriff and has been since January of 1993.
Sheriff's Office personnel are involved with providing direction and role models for the county's young people through the D.A.R.E, School Resource, Police Athletic League, and after school and summer B.A.D.G.E. programs. The agency also has programs for the elderly, the disadvantaged, and all community members through Community Policing outreach programs such as Victims of Crime Assistance League(VOCAL), and the Senior and Civilian Police Academy. Additionally, members of the agency and numerous citizens are assisted through the Sheriff's Chaplain Program, one of the largest in the nation, composed of all-volunteer ministers.