Philadelphia City Council voted on Thursday, November 12, to hold public hearings into the Sheriff's Office — the agency that guards the city's courtrooms and runs its court-ordered property auctions — after a string of scandals topped by an internal audit that found $20 million in sale proceeds had not been paid out.

Source: PhillyVoice

The resolution, introduced by Council President Kenyatta Johnson (D-2nd District), authorizes Council's Committee of the Whole to examine the office's operations, policies, staffing and financial practices, in hearings Johnson said are meant to “restore public confidence.” Sheriff Rochelle Bilal is expected to testify. The hearing dates have not yet been scheduled.

Source: NBC10 Philadelphia

“It's an opportunity for her to go on the record and talk about what she is doing, for us to ask questions about what's happening and what's not happening and then, hopefully, as we decide how to move forward in the future, some recommendations, some additional collaboration around the efficiency of her office,” Johnson said.

Johnson also closed the door on the most drastic option. “My goal is not to eliminate the sheriff's office but to reform the sheriff's office, in partnership with the actual sheriff and the other stakeholders who have an interest in taking a look at the operations of the actual sheriff's office,” he said after Thursday's meeting. Abolishing the elected office would in any case require a Charter amendment approved by voters.

What the Sheriff's Office does

The office employs more than 400 people. Its deputies provide public safety in Philadelphia courtrooms for defendants, judges, staff, witnesses, jurors and the public. It also handles court-ordered property foreclosures — the mortgage and tax sales known as sheriff sales — which move large sums of public and private money through the office's accounts every year.

The scandals that led here

Bilal, who took office in 2020, has faced criticism on several fronts at once. In October, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that an internal audit of the office found $20 million from sales proceeds that should have been disbursed to taxpayers. Buyers at sheriff sales have complained of waiting more than a year after an auction to receive their deeds. There have been reports of missing guns. And the office was criticised for posting fake, AI-generated news stories on its website that promoted positive coverage of itself. Johnson's resolution also cites concerns raised by the Administrative Governing Board of the First Judicial District, the body that oversees Philadelphia's courts, including courtroom security and staffing shortages.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer via PhillyVoice / NBC10

A parallel fight in court

Thursday's vote is the Council's first direct move in a fight that has so far run through the courts — Awaaz Punjab reported earlier in November on the court oversight order in the sheriff-sales case. Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick, who supervises the court's commerce division, ordered a contempt hearing on October 16 and heard the case on October 29. The office's lawyer, Jonathan Rardin, conceded in court that there was “a basis for contempt” over the property auctions, but the office refused to accept a court-ordered forensic audit: “We are not here to agree to an independent audit,” Senior Deputy Undersheriff Steven Wakefield told the court. JSB Property Group, the property buyer whose lawsuit drove the case, argued that the office's own disclosure of about $20 million in unpaid proceeds shows why a monitor is needed. Judge Patrick has said she will rule on contempt; a finding could require the office to pay for a court-chosen forensic audit of its auctions. Bilal is not charged with any crime — the proceeding is civil.

Source: Philadelphia Politics / Inquirer reporting

Problems older than one sheriff

Council members stressed that some of the office's troubles predate Bilal. Her predecessor, former Sheriff Jewell Williams, was named in multiple lawsuits containing allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination, along with workplace retaliation claims — allegations reported by 6abc and Billy Penn. A 2022 performance audit by then-City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart found inadequate accounting and missing documentation at the office, and the Inquirer reported that Council took no action on it at the time. An earlier Council resolution authorizing a hearing touching on the Sheriff's Office, adopted in October 2025, was never followed by an actual hearing.