Keynote Lincoln Day Dinner 2019
Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh is the first woman to be elected Sheriff of Chester County Pennsylvania. She has served since January 2000 and is one of only 40 female sheriffs in the nation. She serves as an advisor to the President of the United States on law enforcement and matters of public safety.
Sheriff Welsh was the first woman to be elected president of a graduating class at the National Sheriffs Institute at the Department of Corrections in Longmont, Colorado. In 1997 Sheriff Welsh was named one of the Top 50 Women in Business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and has been recognized as one of the “30 Remarkable Women Making Domestic Violence History” by the Pennsylvania Coalition against Domestic Violence. SheriffWelsh received the prestigious “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” award from the National Center for Women and Policing in 2002, and in 2004 she was inducted into the International Police Association Hall of Fame.
In July 2009, Sheriff Welsh was sworn in as president of the Pennsylvania Sheriffs Association. This is the first time in the 88-year history of the association that a woman has been elected to the top leadership position. In January 2011 she was elected to the Board of the National Sheriffs Association, which oversees more than 3,000 sheriffs across the nation. She currently serves on the NSA’s executive committee as second vice president--the first woman to hold that post.
Sheriff Welsh is a member of the Chester County Republican Committee as well as the Pennsylvania Republican Committee. She has served as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention and as a Presidential Elector.
Sheriff Welsh was the first woman to be elected president of a graduating class at the National Sheriffs Institute at the Department of Corrections in Longmont, Colorado. In 1997 Sheriff Welsh was named one of the Top 50 Women in Business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and has been recognized as one of the “30 Remarkable Women Making Domestic Violence History” by the Pennsylvania Coalition against Domestic Violence. SheriffWelsh received the prestigious “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” award from the National Center for Women and Policing in 2002, and in 2004 she was inducted into the International Police Association Hall of Fame.
In July 2009, Sheriff Welsh was sworn in as president of the Pennsylvania Sheriffs Association. This is the first time in the 88-year history of the association that a woman has been elected to the top leadership position. In January 2011 she was elected to the Board of the National Sheriffs Association, which oversees more than 3,000 sheriffs across the nation. She currently serves on the NSA’s executive committee as second vice president--the first woman to hold that post.
Sheriff Welsh is a member of the Chester County Republican Committee as well as the Pennsylvania Republican Committee. She has served as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention and as a Presidential Elector.