Sheriff Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh of Chadds Ford, PA, made history as the first woman elected Sheriff of Chester County. She is one of just two female sheriffs in Pennsylvania and among only 38 female sheriffs nationwide. She also became the first woman to serve as president of a class at the National Sheriffs Institute in Longmont, Colorado.

In 1997, Sheriff Welsh was named one of the Top 50 Women in Business in Pennsylvania. She has received multiple awards, including Pennsylvania Senatorial Citations and commendations from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Her volunteer efforts earned her the National “Eckerd 100 Women of 2000” award.

In 2002, she received the “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” award from the National Center for Women and Policing. She was inducted into the International Police Association Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the March of Dimes Chester County Women of Achievement award the same year. Additionally, she became the first woman to serve on the Executive Board of the Pennsylvania Sheriff’s Association, later being sworn in as president in 2009. She was the first woman to hold this top leadership role in the association’s 88-year history. In 2011, she joined the Executive Board of the National Sheriffs Association.

Sheriff Welsh graduated from the FBI’s Mid-Atlantic Law Enforcement Executive Development Program in 2005. In 2006, she was recognized as one of “30 Remarkable Women Making Domestic Violence History” by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Under her leadership, the Chester County Sheriff’s Office has earned numerous awards, including being named the top sheriff’s office in Pennsylvania for Crime Prevention and Community Outreach in both 2008 and 2011.

In addition to her many professional achievements, Sheriff Welsh is a mother of four and a grandmother of nine.