The agency also provides law enforcement services to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) system, and John Wayne Airport.

The entire department consisted of Sheriff Richard Harris and Deputy James Buckley, with an operating budget of $1,200 a year and a makeshift jail in the rented basement of a store in Santa Ana.

The problems faced by the first sheriff were typical for a frontier county – tracking down outlaws, controlling vagrancy, and attempting to maintain law and order across 782 square miles (2,030 km2) of farmland and undeveloped territory.

When he took office in 1911, Sheriff Charles Ruddock commanded a staff of eight full-time deputies and jailers, serving a county of nearly 34,000 citizens.

But the county's frontier past returned to haunt it on December 16, 1912, when Undersheriff Robert Squires became the first member of the department to be killed in the line of duty while part of a posse attempting to apprehend a violent fugitive.

By the time Sheriff Sam Jernigan took office in 1923, rum runners and bootleggers were commonplace along the coastline and in Orange County's harbors, using them as a base of operation for smuggling Canadian liquor into the country.

Sheriff Jackson believed that the labor unrest, caused by the depressed wages of citrus workers, was fomented by communists.

"[4] His actions created a reign of terror for striking citrus workers, but Jackson's term in office also saw advancements for the department, such as an expansion of the Sycamore Jail that included the county's first radio dispatch center.

This peaceful time was cut short by the outbreak of World War II in 1941, which created challenges unlike any others in department history.

This was made worse by the fact that in addition to his normal responsibilities, the Sheriff was now required to assist with mandatory civil defense measures such as air raid drills and blackouts, as well as help police the seven wartime military bases within the county borders.

In 1946, retired NFL star and former deputy James A. Musick came home from the war and successfully ran for the office of Sheriff, assuming command in 1947.

He implemented the county's first crime lab, its first Peace Officer's Training Center (now known as the Katella Facility), and the nation's first law enforcement Explorer post.

Although the team disbanded several years later, certain platoons evolved into the modern-day SWAT, hazardous devices, and mounted patrol units.

Gates also established the Air Support Bureau and created the Laser Village tactical training center, as well as the county's first DNA laboratory.

Sheriff Michael Carona took office in 1999 and oversaw a merger of the Orange County Marshal's Department (his former agency) with OCSD.

His term brought additional department expansion, including a modernized Katella Facility and a new OCSD Academy in Tustin.

[5] Carona's replacement, retired L.A. Sheriff's Commander Sandra Hutchens, was appointed by the County Board of Supervisors after a nationwide search for a suitable candidate.

In 2016, the Board of Supervisors approved a contract expanding the department's budget, raising deputy salaries "8.5 percent" and costing taxpayers "an additional $62.2 million" overall.

In addition to these services they remain vigilant against threats (foreign or domestic) to ensure the security and safe operation of this facility.

Sheriff's personnel frequently work in conjunction with Federal Homeland Security, and United States Coast Guard for interdiction of contraband and human trafficking.

The original "Duke" helicopters (a pair of Boeing 500s) had an image of John Wayne riding atop a sheriff's badge (while waving his cowboy hat) painted on the fuselage.

North Operations includes patrol and investigative services for the northern boundaries of Orange County, this division is based out of Sheriff's Headquarters in Santa Ana, California.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department, as well as multiple local, state and even federal public safety agencies train at and utilize both sites.

The facility opened in late 2007 and replaced the old academy on Salinas Avenue in Garden Grove which was no longer adequate due to overcrowding.

There are also Deputies assigned to the Civil Enforcement Bureau who handle services in every city of the county serving restraining orders and court subpoenas, conducting evictions, and effecting bench warrants.

In a newspaper article he stated, "We organized the group after we found that other special interest Explorer Posts were taking our best young men from our high schools.

We decided, rather than take what was left over after other fields of endeavor took the best, that we should start training young men of high school age now for a career in law enforcement."

Post 449 began with twenty-eight explorers in Santa Ana who had to meet the qualifications of being "between 14 and 21, must maintain a "B" average in school, have a clean record, be of outstanding citizenship in their community and have a general reputation beyond reproach."

The Orange County Sheriff's Explorer Post supports deputies during road closures caused by natural disasters such as mudslides, floods and forest fires.

The Post's Color guard is used to present the flag at City Council and County Board of Supervisor meetings, as well as scouting and civic events.