Clallam and Jefferson county sheriffs are opposing a Senate bill that could allow a state commission to trigger the removal of sheriffs who lose certification without a voter recall.
Senate Bill 5974, which passed in the Senate on Thursday in a 30-19 vote and is currently under consideration in the House, would expand eligibility requirements for sheriffs and give the Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) authority over certification standards that could affect whether a sheriff may remain in office.
Clallam County Sheriff Brian King said he and Jefferson County Sheriff Andy Pernsteiner are grandfathered in and would not be subject to the new standard, but future candidates, including potential opponents on a future ballot, could be subjected to the standards.
King said he agrees that already existing standards should be adhered to, but he said the bill currently under consideration would lead to local control of law enforcement being centralized with the state.
While some of the areas addressed in the bill could be discussed at greater length with law enforcement professionals giving input, the overall effect could be detrimental, King said.
“It’s one of those bills (that would benefit from) any time to kind of slow down and look at all the downstream effects of what this legislation would do,” he said.
The bill requires that candidates for office undergo background investigations, including polygraph tests. While the investigations would be the responsibility of the Washington State Patrol, the agency does not have the capacity to conduct them in a timely manner and would need to hire contractors, King said.
Estimated costs, which would be borne by counties, would be between $8,500 and $10,000 per candidate, King said.
A polygraph test is subjective, he added.
“I’ve read a psychological evaluation and looked at the conclusions, and most of the time I agree, but there’s times where I have disagreed, and I’ve talked to a psychologist and a psychologist says, ‘Oh, I didn’t take this other thing into consideration. You changed my mind,’” King said.
The bill also would limit the ways sheriff’s offices can use volunteers. It would prohibit them from carrying or using firearms or other weapons.
King said some of his volunteers, retired law enforcement officers, would be limited in their ability to conduct firearms training. If the bill had clearer language limiting when a volunteer could carry or use a firearm, that might be an improvement, King said.
King and Pernsteiner agreed there is a political agenda behind the bill. It may be partially targeting sheriffs who have aligned themselves with the constitutional sheriff’s movement and who have referred to their volunteer groups as posses.
There may be some motivation connected to certain sheriff’s opposition to the Keep Washington Working Act, which prohibits Washington law enforcement officers from working with federal immigration enforcement, King said.
Some sheriffs have refused to comply with the state law by claiming that it is unconstitutional, he added.
The bill relies on vague and subjective standards for decertification, Pernsteiner said. One standard revolves around whether a sheriff has affiliations with groups that are deemed to be extreme.
“It’s a fairly subjective thing, whether you’re part of the extreme group,” Pernsteiner said. “They say, ‘Well, because you voted a certain way or expressed a certain opinion on something, now you’re part of an extremist group, which could lead to your decertification.”
Allowing an appointed body to remove an elected official based on unclear criteria creates a risk of political influence and undermines local control of public safety, Pernsteiner wrote in a Facebook post Feb. 9.
The Washington State Sheriffs’ Association (WSSA) and Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) have tried to collaborate with lawmakers to develop counterproposals and amendments informed by local law enforcement statewide, King said.
“That these professional voices have been largely disregarded by legislators is deeply troubling,” he said.
Most members of the CJTC do not have law enforcement experience, Pernsteiner noted.
King and Pernsteiner attended a WSSA meeting in Ellensburg on Tuesday during which nearly all of the state’s 39 county sheriff’s offices were represented. They discussed whether or not meaningful changes could still be pursued as the bill moves through the House, King said.
Many of the desired modifications from the work done by WSSA and WASPC have made it into another bill, House Bill 2387, which the two sheriffs support, King said.
That bill would still allow state oversight to trigger a decertification process, but that process would lead to a recall election. That strengthens accountability while preserving public authority, Pernsteiner wrote.
Decertification as outlined in HB 2387 would prevent sheriffs from carrying out certain law enforcement duties but would not lead to their job being terminated.
King noted that SB 5974 has been framed as an effort to reign in rogue sheriffs and to hold them accountable. While he sees certain sheriffs as unfit for office, the choice should be in voters’ hands, he wrote.
“Accountability matters, but in a democracy, removing an elected sheriff should be decided by the voters, not bureaucrats,” Pernsteiner wrote.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.
