The Chehalis Police Department served a search warrant at Green Hill School on Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into a staff member and potential contraband smuggling.
In a Tuesday news release, the department said it was now “awaiting a response” on the records requested in the warrant.
According to the release, the department first learned of the possible crime on July 28, after receiving a referral from the Washington state Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), the agency that manages the juvenile rehabilitation (JR) facility.
According to the news release, the referral had indicated a staff member was “potentially smuggling contraband into the facility and distributing it to residents.”
Nancy Gutierrez, DCYF director of external communications, confirmed on Wednesday that the department’s Licensing Division/Child Protective Services (LD/CPS) had referred an intake to Chehalis police. Gutierrez said the referral involved a young person who had accused a staff member of “providing an illegal substance to a different young person” no longer at the facility.
“Besides this accusation, DCYF had no other evidence that suggested this staff was compromised,” Gutierrez said in an email to The Chronicle. She added that DCYF reviews information to corroborate claims “while complying with bargaining requirements.”
“We do not tolerate staff misconduct,” Gutierrez said. “Our JR staff frequently collect evidence to hand over to our law enforcement partners along with referrals to help in convictions.”
In the release, Chehalis Police Chief Randy Kaut said that when police contacted Green Hill School about the investigation, they were told they’d have to “submit a public records request through DCYF in order to obtain the information needed to assist with the investigation.”
Gutierrez said DCYF has previously told the Chehalis Police Department that cases not initiated by JR must go through the public records process.
“However, law enforcement is not expected to go through the public records process when a case is initiated by CPS,” the communications director said. “This referral came from CPS."
According to the release, DCYF denied the records request on Aug. 19. Kaut said the department then had to apply for a search warrant to obtain the records.
“At this time, we do not know why DCYF referred potential criminal activity involving a staff member to our agency and then refused to provide us with the information necessary to properly conduct an investigation, requiring the use of a search warrant to obtain those records,” Kaut said in the release. “It is our position that cooperation between our agencies is necessary to ensure the safety of staff and residents inside the facility.”
Gutierrez indicated the hangup came when Chehalis police reached out to JR staff instead of CPS. She said the DCYF public records team is required by state law to deny any requests that fall outside of the Public Records Act.
“This request did not fall under the PRA, and our public records staff appropriately referred Chehalis PD to CPS for records about this case," Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said DCYF would now tell JR staff “that requests related to referrals to law enforcement by LD/CPS should be referred to LD/CPS instead of public records."
“We want to be clear; we are fully reporting to our law enforcement partners,” Gutierrez said. “We want support from our law enforcement partners when we discover criminal activity.”
The Chehalis Police Department said the investigation is ongoing, and did not disclose the name of the suspected staff member.
On Wednesday, Kaut told the Chronicle the department was still awaiting the records.
According to Gutierrez, Green Hill has made 14 referrals to the Chehalis Police Department — including cases involving custodial assault and staff misconduct — since the start of 2026.
“We are looking forward to sitting down with Chehalis PD leaders to work on our partnership,” Gutierrez said.
