The County and Borough Police Act 1856 or the Police Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict c 69) was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It was one of the

Police Acts 1839 to 1893 Police Act is a stock short title used for legislation in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom relating to police forces and officers. List India *Indian Police Act 1861 Malaysia *The Police Act 1967 United Kingdom *The Police (Property) A ...

.The

Short Titles Act 1896 The Short Titles Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict c 14) is an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Short Titles Act 1892. This Act was retained for the Republic of Ireland by section 2(2)(a ...

, section 2(1) and Schedule 2 The Act made it compulsory for a police force to be established in any

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

which had not previously formed a constabulary. The Act required that in any county where a constabulary had not already been established for all or part of the county, then the

Justices of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the county should at the next General or

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

held after December 1, 1856, proceed to establish a sufficient police force. Where the Secretary of State received certified notice that an efficient police force had been established in any county or

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

, then one quarter of the costs of pay and clothing for constables would be met by the Treasury. However,

s maintaining a separate police force and having a population of 5,000 or less were to receive no financial support, thereby encouraging smaller forces to consolidate with the county police. Finally the Act provided that the

Cheshire Constabulary Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of Halton and Borough of Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an are ...

, which had been established by a private Act of Parliament in 1829 (10 Geo. 4, c.97) and amended by an Act of 1852 (15 & 16 Vict c xxxi), would be replaced by a force under the terms of the new Act.

References

United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1856 Police legislation in the United Kingdom {{law-enforcement-stub