Who has ultimate authority?

Yeah the sheriff technically has more authority than the President as the President is in his county so he controls it now most of the time the sheriff doesn't use this authority but could at any given moment the only time the federal government would have more power than local government as in the State in question would be if a foreign invader or something of that nature where to happen or a natural disaster that leaves the local government more or less out of commission even then a sheriff if still in the area or has a lot of power as he is the Representative of the police force in the area and will know the area better than the federal government and that is why local basically has more power than the feds on a lot of things but generally yield their power to the feds when they show up.

over americans? me

I am very familiar with sheriff Mattis. He is well known for protecting his territory and the people he serves. He and the Wyoming Sheriff’s Association sued two agencies (BATF and the IRS) a number of years ago and the courts did agree with sheriffs. Federal power only exists to the extent it is given to federal agencies in the constitution. All other authority is differed to the states or the people -in this case, the sheriff being an elected representative of the people. The constitution and it's supporting documents are very clear on this. This is especially applicable to the military as also by law, the military has no police power on U.S. soil. They are pretty much on the bottom rung of things and are subject to civil codes and law enforcement authorities.....even below the post master(I have an actual story about that in a moment) Do you have any more specifics on the story you mentioned? I would really love to see the details. It may be the military was conducting operations off military grounds and was doing so with out notifying the township or county of the exercise as well as trying to assert authority over the citizens there that were not theirs to assert. Now, my story. A guy I know who is a post man, was on his rout one morning in an area that had disaster drill of some sort going on. He got to the area and was stopped by uniformed participants from entering the neighborhood. He immediately threatened them with an "arrest by postmaster", giving the guys pause to think a moment. They stepped aside and let him about his business, lol. Apparently there was something valid to the threat he made.

After reading the posts above, I'll go along with the County Sheriff. But truth is, I don't have a clue. Maybe after I finish retyping, editing and proofing my Mom's book, I'll look for a real answer. Then, again, I have several videos to finish before Christmas... It could be awhile before I have an answer. I hope that's ok?

Having the power in the community, the authority to rule made them do whatever they wanted. It is so frustrating if they overdo their authority. That's the reason why some people lost their interest in politics and the like.