Sheriff’s Office Service Fees Irk Napavine Officials

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Some Napavine city officials feel their community is getting nickel-and-dimed by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, but the Sheriff’s Office says it should be compensated for a service the city of Napavine isn’t providing.  

A recent letter, addressed to Napavine Police Chief Chris Salyers, from Sheriff Steve Mansfield and Undersheriff Rob Snaza outlined fees for serving the city.

“The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office will respond to in-progress calls for service when no city officers are available or when the city requests assistance for investigative purposes,” the letter reads. “Effective January 1, 2015, the city of Napavine will be billed $65 per hour for a minimum of two (2) hours or four (4) hours.”

The letter also says the city will be billed for the costs of arresting and processing suspects.

The fee is a $10 increase from what the Sheriff’s Office has charged in the past. 

The Napavine Police Department is staffed by a chief, a full-time officer, a part-time officer and a reserve officer, according to the city’s website. The department doesn’t handle round-the-clock calls for service, so it relies on the Sheriff’s Office to handle in-progress calls during off-duty hours. 

Sheriff-elect Snaza, who started his law enforcement career in Napavine, said his office often assists local police departments with calls, but steps back when those officers gain control of the situation. 

Napavine is the only municipality in the county the sheriff’s office charges for service because deputies often handle in-progress calls within city limits, and the department should be compensated for its costs, Snaza said.  

He also said that smaller police departments such as those in Winlock and Toledo manage to provide full-time coverage to their communities, and Napavine should figure out how to do the same if it wants to avoid the fees. 

“We respond because they have no law enforcement available,” he said.” They expect us to cover their city while they get to take the weekends off and they're not willing to adjust … It’s disappointing”

Napavine Police Chief Salyers said he and the full-time officer are alternating weekend shifts, but until Napavine grows and the city council grants him enough money to add police officers, his hands are tied. 

“Until then it’s something we have to live with,” he said. “My decision is now to never take a day off or a vacation.” 

Napavine Mayor Sayers said the community can’t hire more toopers because it is still smarting from the recession and its residents are hostile to new taxes.  

“It’d be nice if we had the money for the officers,” he said. “Our people are very sensitive about raising anything.”

He also worries that the Sheriff's Office may be responding to non-priority calls unnecessarily. 

“We have had some issues with that,” he said. 

Sayers said that many sheriff’s deputies and State Patrol officers live in, or are passing through, Napavine often enough to help cover the city with charging for it.

“They’re always around. Everybody should be working together instead of penny-pinching everything they can,” he said. “I’m from the old school, I guess the one where we help each other out and back each other up.”

Napavine City Councilor Bob Wheeler said Napavine pays Lewis County more than $250,000 in taxes, so the Sheriff’s Office shouldn’t be charging the city without it in writing.

“If they're going to charge us there has to be a legal contract,” he said.

Snaza said if Napavine residents are paying taxes for a police department, they should receive full coverage and not have to rely on the Sheriff’s Department to fill in the gaps. He also said it’s unfair to the rest of Lewis County that his department should give extra attention to Napavine.

“We’re going to provide the service to the citizens of the community,” he said. “The big question is, what is Napavine doing for their community?”

Wheeler and others said that both parties need to work together to find a solution.

“Let’s work together on this,” he said.