Sheriff Elizabeth "Lezzie" Forbes is the Sheriff of Mystic Falls and the mother of Caroline Forbes. She is first introduced at a Founders Day party at Mayor Lockwood's house. There she is shown to have a strained relationship with her daughter. However, later actions show that Forbes loves her daughter very much and is willing to do anything for her.

She was revealed at the end of the episode to be a member of the Founders Council, a secret organization dedicated to protecting Mystic Falls from vampires. Along with Logan Fell, Forbes led the hunt for the vampires. When Fell was killed by Damon Salvatore, Forbes found the body and covered up his death by saying that he had left town for the Bahamas. Fell later returned as a vampire and swore to turn Caroline into a vampire to have his revenge against Forbes. She was saved by Damon Salvatore's intervention. Forbes appears in several other episodes protecting the town from vampire attacks and attending Founding Families events.

When Damon approached the Council to get them off his back, he gives vervain to Forbes and frames Lexi as the vampire so as to make him look heroic in Forbes's eyes. She was seen letting him know about the Council's plans and was also his staunchest ally among the Founding Families, not suspecting that he is a vampire.