A bill that supporters say raises the criteria of sheriffs and police chiefs and prioritizes integrity passed on the floor of the Washington state Senate Thursday afternoon. That bill, if no changes are made, could disqualify the Pacific County sheriff from his office.
The Washington state Senate passed Senate Bill 5974 on Thursday afternoon but not before nearly two hours of debate over the bill and eight failed Republican amendments to the bill that proposed a range of changes to the legislation.
State Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, proposed an amendment, among the many, that would change the bill to only apply to future sheriffs and not to those currently in office. Wilson said on the floor that he made the proposal in hopes of protecting a sheriff in his county from being disqualified from being sheriff.
“That’s what this amendment does. It offers respect to the current and existing sheriff,” Wilson said.
According to testimony on the floor, Pacific County Sheriff Daniel Garcia may be the only current sheriff in the state of Washington who would be directly affected by language in the bill that will require elected sheriffs to have at least five years of law enforcement experience to be eligible for the position.
State Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, one of the bill's most vocal supporters and sponsors and chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, responded directly to Wilson on the floor of the Senate to ask the chamber to vote against the amendment and defend the bill as written.
She first stated that only sheriffs who were decertified by the state's Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) or failed to be certified altogether could be removed from office. In that case, Garcia would not be removed from office, but rather would be ineligible to run for reelection as sheriff in the future.
Dhingra went on to defend the bill's law enforcement service requirement which would require all sheriffs to have served as a law enforcement officer for at least five years to be eligible for the position. She stated during her remarks that the bill had originally called for 10 years at the request of some rank and file law enforcement officers before being reduced to seven years and then five.
“Our rank and file law enforcement officers deserve someone they can trust to lead them and can trust that they understand where they are coming from,” Dhingra said.
Another Southwest Washington lawmaker, state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, took up the microphone later to push back against the service requirement, pointing out that sheriff candidates could have other forms of leadership experience that qualifies them for the position. In particular, Braun stated it was leadership experience in harsh conditions that qualifies a sheriff, not direct law enforcement experience.
Braun used Garcia as an example, highlighting the sheriff’s leadership experience in the U.S. Navy despite a lack of experience in law enforcement.
“This isn’t about running down bad guys. That's why you have deputies,” Braun said. “This is about leading in a very difficult environment and this is a gentleman, a sheriff who has done that.”
According to a biography on his campaign website, Garcia served in the U.S. Navy starting in the year 2000 before transitioning to the Navy Reserve in 2006. Garcia achieved the rank of senior chief and served in many of the American military engagements in the middle east in the early 2000s, including operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. Garcia was elected as Pacific County Sheriff as a write-in candidate in the county’s 2022 election.
Senate Bill 5974 is a law enforcement bill that increases the eligibility requirements for sheriffs and police chiefs, including the previously mentioned experience requirement. It also allows for their removal from office should they fail to be certified, or be actively decertified, by the CJTC. Also in the bill are new rules that would bar volunteer law enforcement from using firearms or participating in other law enforcement activities.
The bill created controversy when it first appeared in the Senate Law and Justice Committee late last month facing stiff opposition by many of the state's active sheriffs and many Republican lawmakers. Law enforcement officials warned that the language of the bill puts removal of elected law enforcement officials in the hands of an unelected body, the CJTC.
The hearing on the bill became most known for aggressive testimony from Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank, who informed the committee of his belief that Pierce County residents would surround his office building in defiance to protect him from removal from office should he be decertified by the CJTC.
Even so, the bill has united sheriffs across the state in opposition as Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders, who has notably butted heads with Swank in the past, testified against the bill. The two recently traded barbs on social media and have often shared differing opinions on proposed law enforcement legislation.
Sanders commented on the bill both on social media and in previous reporting by The Chronicle shortly after his testimony in front of the Law and Justice Committee opposing the new policy. The young Thurston County Sheriff has aired concerns similar to others like Swank that the new criteria could allow the removal of sheriffs that hold opinions not shared by the majority despite supporters dismissing the claims.
For previous reporting on Senate Bill 5974 and more information on Sanders’ take on the bill, visit https://tinyurl.com/sf9pebvt.
