The sergeant-at-arms is responsible for maintaining order in meetings and can vary in duties between organizations. The position dates back to the Middle Ages and has evolved to include administrative and security responsibilities.
In everyday terminology, a sergeant-at-arms is normally considered the person responsible for maintaining order in any type of meeting. Most legislative and judicial bodies elect individuals to office, as do many fraternal and social organizations. The role of office holders is becoming more and more ceremonial. Maintaining order initially meant that sergeants-at-arms were charged with forcibly ejecting troublesome people from meetings when requested by the organization’s leader. This type of request is becoming quite rare in today’s meetings and proceedings.
The office of the sergeant-at-arms can vary significantly from organization to organization. The job descriptions of people who hold titles in the US Senate and the US House of Representatives, for example, are quite different. In the House of Representatives, the gun sergeant is elected by its members at the commencement of each Congress and assumes responsibilities that include ensuring protocol, enforcing rules and regulations, and performing administrative duties.
The senate sergeant-at-arms adds several specific core functions to those responsibilities. He or she is the executive officer of the Senate, wielding the gavel at each session and possessing the authority to summon the presence of any senators who may be absent. Additional duties range from responsibility for overseeing day-to-day security operations for the Capitol and Senate to managing the complex information and technology services of the Senate. The official title for the position in the Senate is “Sergeant-at-arms and porter”. The latter part of the title dates back to the initial sessions when the general public were barred from the chambers and the goalkeeper’s job was to enforce that policy.
The designation of sergeant-at-arms dates back to the Middle Ages and the English feudal system. The word sergeant is rooted in the Latin name for servant. The feudal lords appointed armed officer sergeants-at-arms to protect them. Those who held the title were often assigned special duties in the personal service of the king. They often accompanied the monarch as armed mounted guards on journeys and battle adventures. One of their main responsibilities was also usually to apprehend traitors and criminals guilty of other crimes against the crown.
The responsibilities of individuals holding the office gradually expanded to collect taxes, keep the peace, and bring to justice anyone who interferes with local government and justice. The duties further grew to include the disciplinary actions necessary to ensure orderly judicial, parliamentary, municipal and ceremonial proceedings. The continuous evolution of the concept of the sergeant-at-arms has led to its commonly understood meaning in modern society.
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