The Port of Olympia is giving its Harbor Patrol Program and two vessels to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO).
On Tuesday, March 31, the Thurston County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement between the Port of Olympia and TCSO to formally transfer its two Harbor Patrol vessels to the sheriff’s office for the purpose of continuing the Harbor Patrol program.
The agreement also transfers the full Harbor Patrol program, including its structure and volunteers, to TCSO.
The volunteer-staffed program provides security, marine safety and emergency response services in Budd Inlet and surrounding waterways in the South Puget Sound. The Harbor Patrol has no law enforcement authority, according to a Port of Olympia presentation.
The Harbor Patrol began in 1982 under the Olympia Police Department, and transferred to the Port of Olympia in 2015 after the city lost funding for it.
TCSO’s Marine Services Unit has been partnering with the Port of Olympia for over a decade for boater education, law enforcement activities and for search and rescue missions involving the dive team.
The Port of Olympia authorized transfer of the Harbor Patrol program to TCSO on Dec. 8, 2025.
TCSO has access to more funding sources than the port does for harbor safety programs, and has the authority to expand Harbor Patrol’s purview to include services like vessel inspections and safety checks, according to a Port of Olympia presentation.
TCSO is also better equipped to keep the Harbor Patrol volunteers in the loop with other first responders while they’re out on the water, saving time and manpower in an emergency.
“I think this is a great move. This fills a big gap in public safety,” Thurston County Commissioner Wayne Fournier said of transferring Harbor Patrol to TCSO.
The program currently includes four volunteer commanders overseeing 16 volunteers, according to a Port of Olympia presentation.
The Harbor Patrol volunteers see 800 hours of on-water patrol annually, on top of 750 hours of annual training annually.
“I think the Harbor Patrol group is excited, and our Marine Services deputies like having more resources on the water,” said Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders.
As part of the interlocal agreement approved Tuesday, Thurston County will pay the Port of Olympia $12,075 for the 2013 SafeBoat 31-foot Medical vessel “Integrity.”
The Port of Olympia acquired Integrity over a decade ago through a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant award. Before the vessel broke down about three years ago, TCSO used it for marine services under a separate interlocal agreement with the port.
TCSO intends to come back to the Board of County Commissioners at a later date for approval to fix Integrity’s engine, according to Sanders
TCSO has the money in the county’s boater fund to pay the costly repair, “but we didn’t want to make that expenditure on a boat that we didn’t own,” Sanders said.
Also as part of the interlocal agreement, the Port of Olympia will transfer the 2004 28-foot Almar Safety Boat “Harbor One” to TCSO for free.
The port maintains ownership of a third vessel that has been used for Harbor Patrol, the 1999 19-foot Preston Tuff Boat “Port 1,” for port operations and backup response.
Sanders has indicated that TCSO could use the helicopter it acquired late last year to aid in water rescues and other emergency response in Thurston County’s waterways.
That proposed aviation program has its own dedicated donation fund.
Thurston County’s boater fund, which holds the county’s share of vessel registration funds distributed by the Washington state Parks Department, is footing the bill for the vessel transfers, repairs and general operation of the Harbor Patrol program. It currently funds TCSO’s Marine Services Unit.
“It is doing very healthy. We normally take in more funds than we use each year, so we have a surplus, and that’s to pay for the repair of these vessels,” Undersheriff Ruben Mancillas said of the boater fund during a March 3 Board of County Commissioners work session. “With that and the additional manpower from the volunteers, it will increase our patrols, increase our response times, but it should still run into the same amount of costs that we have for our boats currently.”
Fournier and fellow Commissioners Emily Clouse, Rachel Grant and Carolina Mejia thanked TCSO for their work with county budget staff and the Port of Olympia to answer commissioner questions and organize the interlocal agreement.
