Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan gets fitted for custom cowboy hat

CAVE CREEK, Ariz. - You may have noticed that Arizona sheriffs always seem to wear cowboy hats. It’s like an unofficial part of the uniform. 

We tagged along with new Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan to get fitted for a brand-new cowboy hat. It's something he’s always wanted to do. 

What they're saying:

Sheriff Sheridan already has a go-to cowboy hat or two, but he promised himself when he became sheriff, he would buy a custom-made hat. 

There might be no better place than Watson’s Hat Shop in Cave Creek for the new headpiece. 

The backstory:

This isn’t the sheriff’s first rodeo when it comes to cowboy hats, but it will be his first that’s custom-made. 

"I like this and I’ve gotten used to it and so I just wanted a custom hat that looks similar, but it’s gonna be different," Sheridan said. 

Watson’s has been making all kinds of custom hats for more than a decade. 

Sheriff Jerry Sheridan shops for a new cowboy hat at Watson's Hat Shop.

From cowboy to bolo, for him and her, they've learned that the right cowboy hat is all about balance. 

"You need to be have some balance. If that’s wrong, you look like a little man with a big hat," said Jerry Hills who works at Watson's. 

"All hats start in this basic raw form. The premium ones are made out of beaver fur and there’s a 64-step process from start to finish," he added. 

How are cowboy hats made?

The sheriff's head is measured with tape. 

Then a contraption called a conformeter helps make that perfect shape. 

"The pride that you see on that person’s face with that new hat over their head, they seem to stand a little taller when that happens," reflects Hills. "We’ve been a little bit of part of that." 

Jerry Hills, Watson's Hat Shop

Twenty minutes later, the sheriff has a brand-new, black cowboy hat on order. 

A feather in his cap. 

And the perfect way to say, "there’s a new sheriff in town." 

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"We have a hispanic heritage, we have a cowboy heritage here. I thought it was appropriate to let people know that I’m the sheriff," he said. 

Now that the style and measurements are ready, it should take about 10 weeks to finish the hat. 

The price tag? Cowboy hats start at $700 and can go up to several thousand.