S.A. McDowell was County Supervisor in 1879 and 1880, County Recorder in 1884, and ran for Sheriff in 1882, but lost to Edward Bushyhead.  He was elected Sheriff in 1886, effective January 1887.

In January 1888, Sheriff McDowell caused a minor sensation when he served an attachment on an arriving steamer for an unpaid advertising bill of $1,810.  The debt was paid by one of the company’s officers and the vessel was released.

The Coronado Mercury, January 27, 1888, reports on the murders of several members of a family in Moosa Canyon, claimed to be by “Justice Dinwiddie … [Deputy] Archie Freeman” and others.  Sheriff McDowell forwarded warrants for arrests to Oceanside to arrest Constable Breedlove, Deputy Freeman, and others – “all the living participants of the bloody fight.”

In the February 1,1888, San Diego Union and Daily Bee, “The Sheriff Serves Garnishments by the Wholesale” was one of the headlines, as the firm of Hanbury & Garvey sued the International Company of Mexico and tried to serve every person or company that owed any deferred payments to the International Company was named.  About 150 writs were served, and the total amount was estimated at around a “Half-Million”.

The San Diego Union and Daily Bee, July 7, 1889, reported that “Murray, the Murderer” had been corralled in the San Luis Rey valley.  He had slain Marshal Wilson and had been seen on a hill between San Luis Rey and Santa Margarita with “a revolver in his hand and a box of cartridges by his side…”.  “Sheriff McDowell and a posse of twelve men left for the scene on the early train this morning.”  J.W. Murray was captured and eventually sentenced to death, despite the defense attempting to overturn the conviction because the jury had been allowed to read the San Diego Union, including articles about Murray’s murder (Union, August 12, 1890).

The San Diego Union and Daily Bee, on October 27, 1889, reported that the San Diego Grand Jury, which had been in session for the past six weeks, made its final report.  The Grand Jury recommended immediately removing the entire Board of Supervisors, and the District Attorney prepared accusations against each member of the Board for removal from office and $500 damages in each case.  The report also charged Sheriff McDowell with appropriating $7000.  The report also charges the city officials, and concerning the city’s Mayor, “The Grand Jury finds that Douglass Gunn, Mayor of the city, has been in a state of intoxication for several weeks, unable to attend to his duties and his condition a disgrace to the city, and we think, in justice to the people, he ought to resign.”

Further, the Grand Jury reported that Sheriff McDowell had been billing the county fifty cents per day for feeding the inmates, while the actual cost was twenty-five cents per day.  “And we further find that the food so provided by the said sheriff for the said prisoners during the said time, has consisted largely of scraps taken from the tables of the hotel of the person who has been furnishing the said meals, viz: W.A. Dorris, of the New Carlton Hotel.”  The Grand Jury determined that Sheriff McDowell had thereby managed to collect an extra $7,150.35, which they believed to be a “gross misappropriation of the funds of the county”.  The Grand Jury recommended removal of the entire Board of Supervisors, but did not issue any demands for removal of the Sheriff or repayment of the funds.

In February 1890, McDowell’s election in 1889 was challenged by James Russell, the Republican candidate, claiming that 231 votes were illegal (McDowell had won by 162 votes – 4,034 to 3,862.  The Superior Court adjudicated that the illegal votes should be removed prorata, which left McDowell the winner, but the Supreme Court said that methodology was incorrect and remanded the case back for further judgement.   Finally in July the case was dismissed, and McDowell was confirmed as Sheriff.

Throughout McDowell’s entire term, the battle between James Russell and himself was clearly very acrimonious, with both sides claiming the other parties were engaged in deceit and allegations of a “ring” of nefarious behavior.  Newspaper articles were clearly biased towards one or the other.

In the 1890 election, McDowell was not a candidate, and John Folks defeated James Duffy (a former Deputy of McDowell’s) 3,314 votes to 2,987.