WEST CHESTERÂ â Carolyn âBunnyâ Welsh has a number of âfirstsâ on her resume.
She is the first non-law enforcement professional to have run for and been elected as the sheriff in Chester County. She is the first woman to be elected as sheriff in the countyâs 300-year-plus history, and for many years was Pennsylvaniaâs only female sheriff. She was one of only a handful of female sheriff's in the nation, and upon her retirement in 2019, she was the longest-serving row officer â male or female â in the countyâs political history, with two full decades on the job.
And now, she is the first female county elected official ever to be charged criminally and forced to face a possible trial in Chester County Common Pleas Court. As such she joins a short list of other county officials whose careers were tarnished by formal allegations of illegal behavior, either in or out of office. Â