Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid is the first woman to lead the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office in its 281-year history. She won a special election in 2013 to fill the balance of a term and was re-elected in 2015, 2019 and 2023 to full four-year terms. She serves over 1.2 million residents in Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax and the Towns of Herndon and Vienna.
Sheriff Kincaid is a 36-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office. Starting as a Sheriff’s deputy right after college, she worked her way up to the rank of captain before being elected Sheriff. In 2008, she received the agency’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes a career of sustained, exemplary performance. In 2014, Lawyers Weekly presented her with an Influential Women of Virginia award. The honor recognizes women in all fields who are making notable contributions to their professions, their communities and society at large. In 2017, the Junior League of Northern Virginia honored her with its annual Woman of Vision award for exemplifying the League’s mission of promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities.
She is a 2009 graduate of Leadership Fairfax, a 10-month program focused on community issues and designed to build a diverse pool of skilled, enthusiastic leaders in the public and private sectors. She later served for three years on the Leadership Fairfax Board of Directors. She currently serves on the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission, Just Ask Prevention Board of Directors, Commission on Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, and SCAN of Northern Virginia Honorary Board of Directors.
As Sheriff, one of her top priorities is to change the way our criminal justice and behavioral health systems interact, resulting in better outcomes for individuals and our community. She spearheaded Diversion First, the county’s collaborative initiative that offers alternatives to incarceration for people with mental illness or developmental disabilities who come into contact with the criminal justice system for low level offenses.
In the Adult Detention Center, Sheriff Kincaid has expanded education and life skills programs to help inmates better themselves while incarcerated and increase their chances of becoming productive members of the community upon release. She also initiated resource fairs that connect inmates with the help they will need to find shelter, employment, medical care and behavioral health services upon their release.
Within the Sheriff’s Office, she has created a culture of engagement. She and her staff meet people in their neighborhoods, clubs, schools, businesses and places of worship. She listens to concerns and finds solutions to improve the administration and operation of the Sheriff's Office.
A graduate of Langley High School in McLean, Virginia, Sheriff Kincaid received her bachelor’s degree in political science/criminal justice from Frostburg State University in 1987. Her college internship at the Sheriff’s Office sparked her interest in a career as a deputy sheriff.