A countywide ban on mobile syringe exchanges is no more.
Lewis County commissioners have chosen to throw out restrictions on other harm reduction services amid an ongoing legal battle with Centralia-based Gather Church.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to repeal Lewis County Ordinance 1354 during a public hearing at the end of the board's weekly business meeting on Tuesday morning.
The board did so by passing a new piece of county legislation Ordinance 1372, which repeals the previous ordinance that set regulations on syringe exchanges and harm reduction along with any county codes enforcing the rules — namely Lewis County Code chapter 8.80.
The repeal comes roughly a month and a half after a federal judge barred Lewis County from enforcing the restrictions it enacted in April 2024.
Lewis County Commissioners Scott Brummer and Sean Swope shared statements during the meeting lamenting the repeal of the ordinance. Both provided statements reaffirming their belief that regulations on needle exchanges in the county are necessary and left the door open for revisiting the issue in the future.
“Our law enforcement community from the county, in the city of Centralia, all say that this has had a positive impact, that it is a good thing to have in our community,” Swope said after sharing statements in support of the ordinance from local law enforcement officials.
Gather Church, which is the only operator of a syringe exchange service in Lewis County, filed a lawsuit against the local government in October of last year claiming that the local ordinance violated their clients’ rights to accessing care and their own religious rights. That lawsuit is ongoing but appears close to an end after a preliminary ruling that renders the county regulations null and void.
Chief Judge Daivd G. Estudillo of the Federal District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled in favor of a preliminary request for injunctive relief from Gather Church on Dec. 31, 2025. Gather Church has been represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.
In the ruling, Estudillo found that Gather Church had a good chance of winning its lawsuit against the county and moved to bar enforcement of local restrictions to prevent any damage or harm to Gather Church or its clients in the meantime. That ruling appears to have effectively ended the county's attempt to defend the ordinance in court.
Both Swope and Brummer also referred to their disappointment at the result of the lawsuit, but stood by their actions in passing the ordinance in the first place, despite warnings from Gather Church and others that it would likely bring legal action against the county.
“I am deeply disappointed in the court's decision to overrule this duly-enacted legislation,” Brummer said. “This ordinance brought accountability, and I believe it was the right thing to do for the citizens and the folks that this program serves, and it's very unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this situation.”
Commissioner Lindsey Pollock weighed in on the repeal and the court ruling, seeming frustrated with the outcome, but for different reasons than her colleagues. In her comments, she revealed that the county had spent nearly $600,000 on the legal battle. She also reminded her fellow commissioners of a milder version of the ordinance that she had proposed, which she claims would have held up to legal scrutiny. She even appeared to accept that the now-repealed ordinance was a civil rights violation.
“Civil rights are bought and paid for and written in blood, and it is our duty to uphold them,” Pollock said. “It is always right to fight for civil rights.”
Brummer and Swope defended the ordinance to their colleague, and Brummer in particular pushed back against Pollock's mention of the financial cost of the recent lawsuit, stating that the ordinance was worth defending.
“There are things that are worth fighting for, and this is one of them,” he said.
The commissioner also rebutted Pollock's statement and argued it is the commissioners’ duty to regulate harm reduction and syringe exchange programs. He alluded to the case being heard in a federal district court based in Tacoma contributing to the unfavorable ruling.
“Because we wound up in a court system on the federal level in Tacoma, I think we can all understand the outcome of that,” Brummer said.
Multiple members of the public attended the meeting, seemingly to observe the public hearing on the repeal of the county’s syringe exchange regulations. Two representatives of Gather Church and a representative for the American Civil Liberties Union sat in the back of the room with others. But only one member of the public chose to comment during the public hearing on the new ordinance.
Skip Voetberg briefly shared his support for the ordinance, warning of the dangers of needle litter in public spaces. He urged the commissioners to continue their work to regulate needle exchanges and harm reduction services and said he hopes the commissioners will “rework something or reword something.”
“We not only need at least regulation. We need something to help with prevention,” Voetberg said. “I would hope that you would consider if you’re not going to stick with this one, create something else that will help with prevention.”
Gather Church Pastor Cole Meckle, shortly after the county commissioners passed the ordinance to repeal regulations on needle exchanges and harm reduction services, said he and his team were excited to get back to the wider scope of the church's “life-saving” work. The statement echoed one he provided roughly a month earlier, shortly after the injunctive relief ruling was released in December.
“The harm reduction program at Gather Church saves lives, and we are thrilled that the court’s ruling allows us to get back to our core religious mission of serving our community,” Meckle said.
For previous reporting on the Gather Church lawsuit and the county’s attempt to regulate syringe exchange programs, visit https://tinyurl.com/54a5n439.
