Could it be that you have a problem with a tresspassing neighbor, and that's where the sheriff is getting his motivation to enter your land? Not neccessarily from the sheriff, but from a nosy do-gooder neighbor type?

Back in '96, my aunt was getting harassed by my next door neighbor, who happened to be an animal rights extremist type. He would go three miles out of his way to drive by her house and harass her any chance he got; he went as far as walking past several "No Trespassing" signs and climbing over an electrified (*OUCH!*) barbed wire fence to "check up" on her animals on his own (to be read as: no legal authority) initiative and then report percieved "abuses" to the local sheriff's dept.

He, and his wife justified their actions as "civil disobedience" and wouldn't change their behavior, despite the fact that the fence was electrified. (Ultimately, they did, but how that was achieved in my case is not germaine to this conversation. )

Anyway, to get to the point, one way to see if Officer Friendly is doing this on his own initiative, or someone nearby is stirring the pot, you may want to invest in one of those game trail cameras to see what, exactly, is going on. Mount it high, and mount it well. If you can afford it, harden your home against these nosey neighbors as much as legally possible. Cameras (even if they're fake). Motion lights. Radio Shack at one time sold a wireless driveway monitoring system. Anything you can do to document their conduct; the beauty of a lot of these systems is they require very little upkeep and minimal resources.

Then, if it turns out you have a tresspasser, pursue whatever legal action you can, as agressively as you can manage.

As for the sherriff, does he have a warrant when he shows up? Just wondering if that is neccessary in this particular case.