Organization of executive police in the counties of the Russian empire in 1862-1917

The article deals with the problem of executive (general) police’s organization in counties of the European part of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Main trends in police structure changes and their reasons are studied. Laws and regulations of this issue and its implementation process are analyzed; the main stages and the content of the reforms are defined. The author develops the idea that the evolution of the executive police’s organization in counties was to create the system of units and officials corresponding to the demands of the time. By 1917, the executive police’s organization within the counties was centralized and relatively extensive. However, a small staff of its units in conjunction with decentralization at the province level required further reforms.