PORT ANGELES — A request to have a memorial to the late state Supreme Court Justice Susan Owens has been granted a public hearing.
The Clallam County commissioners voted Tuesday to call for a public hearing at 10:30 a.m. March 10 for the purpose of hearing public comments about the request.
“This is for the purpose of receiving comments on how best to recognize Justice Susan Owens for the work that she has done and as a person that spent most of her life from this area,” county administrator Todd Mielke said.
Owens was a Clallam County judge and longtime resident who retired from the state Supreme Court in late 2024 and died in March 2025. The Washington Women Lawyers Olympic Peninsula Chapter has asked the commissioners about placing a monument on county property in Owens’ honor. The monument suggestions have ranged from naming the courthouse in Port Angeles after Owens to naming a courtroom in Port Angeles or in Forks after her to planting a tree with a plaque in her honor.
Mielke has been meeting with several people on what he called an advocates committee regarding the memorial. The committee includes attorney Karen Unger, members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Forks city attorney Rod Fleck and a representative from the Washington Women Lawyers group.
During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners also approved several agreements.
The first was an annual renewal of the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant for $16,901.
“(The grant) provides reimbursement for eligible training costs for law enforcement deputies,” Mielke said. “In this case, officers from the (Clallam County) Sheriff’s Office, Port Angeles Police Department and the Sequim Police Department. It’s not a lot of money, but everything helps.”
The required match for the grant is the cost of the salaries of the deputies and officers while in training, he said.
The commissioners also approved a second amendment to an interlocal agreement for the Salish Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organization.
“This is an organization that helps three counties coordinate with the state with regard to behavioral health allocations to local governments,” Mielke said. “And so this one simply extends the period by which they are the lead organization that helps administer that program.”
The amendment extends the agreement to Dec. 31, 2027.
The final contract was a new bargaining agreement with the Corrections Deputies Guild.
The contract expired June 30, 2024, and several things came up during negotiations, Mielke said.
“One is they switched unions representing that bargaining group, so that delayed part of the commencement,” he said. “We’ve had other counties negotiate contracts in the meantime, which means our peer comparisons changed. But ultimately, we have the agreement before you today for ratification.”
The contract will be implemented by March 1.
The commissioners also held two public hearings Tuesday. The first was in regard to the county adopting a resolution declaring four firearms as surplus property to be sold to the former sheriff or deputy who carried them during their careers.
“We’ve had a long-standing policy that officers that retire have the ability to purchase at fair market value the firearm that they carried for their entire professional service,” Mielke said. “And so, in this case, we have some deputies that are retiring. They requested that they be able to purchase back their service weapons.”
The second hearing was about four properties the county plans to surplus to be sold. The properties include two parcels in Port Angeles city limits near Peninsula College, one on Hogback Road near where the gravel pit is location and a 9.7-acre parcel off Old Mill Road which is surrounded by state Department of Natural Resources lands.
The driving force for what happens with these properties is what will provide the most assets back to the county, commissioners were told. The public hearing was the first part of the process.
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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
