San Juan County Sheriff’s Office statement | Two bills affecting voters and sheriffs

San Juan County Sheriff Eric Peter released a statement about two current bills being reviewed by the Washington State legislature.

||| FROM ERIC PETER, SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF |||

San Juan County Sheriff Eric Peter released the following statement about two current bills being reviewed by the Washington State legislature:

“The county Sheriff is the only directly elected law-enforcement officer directly chosen by the people of Washington. Direct election makes the Sheriff accountable and responsive to the people of their counties. That direct accountability isn’t a relic of history. It’s a constitutional design that gives local communities authority over their own public-safety leadership. 

Right now, that design is at risk. A bill before the Legislature, SB5974, would empower the state’s Criminal Justice Training Commission- an unelected regulatory body- to decertify a Sheriff under broad and in some cases undefined criteria. This state decertification would immediately remove the Sheriff from office, overturning the result of a county election. 

Supporters present this as simple modernization or standardization. In reality, it’s a transfer of power away from voters and into the hands of an appointed commission. Accountability for public-safety leaders is essential, but removing an elected official from office is not an administrative manner. In a constitutional democracy, that authority belongs to voters, not bureaucratic bodies. 

The concern is not theoretical. The proposed grounds for decertification include vague or undefined concepts, including, what someone or some legislative body thinks, feels, or believes instead of a factual grounds for decertification. When subjective standards become triggers for removing an elected official, political misuse becomes a foreseeable risk. 

There is a better approach, one that strengthens accountability while preserving voters’ rightful authority. Under the alternative legislation supported by the Washington State Sheriff’s Association, HB2387, s state decertification of an elected Sheriff would initiate recall proceedings, placing the question in the hands of the only constitutionally sound authority for such action: the electorate. 

The “Sheriff’s Accountability to the Voters Act” ensures Sheriffs face a unique degree of direct accountability without allowing an unelected board to simply erase a county election. 

Electing the Sheriff is how most Washington communities ensure their law-enforcement leader remains responsive to local priorities rather than external political pressures. Replacing that democratic bond with removal by an unelected commission would fundamentally alter the role of a constitutional office. 

As legislators debate these bills, constituent voices matter. If you believe that accountability for Sheriff’s should remain rotted in voter choice, we encourage you to contact your state legislators and supports the proposal that links CJTC decertification to established recall procedures and reject any bill that permits an unelected commission to override a county election. 

Do you want legislators making decisions that essentially tell you that your vote doesn’t count? Do you want legislators deciding what’s best for your community instead of the voters? I encourage all Washington voters to express your opinions about both of these bills using the legislature’s online portals: 

To register your opinion on SB5974, which allows the state to remove Sheriff’s by decertifying them, go to https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/5974 to share your thoughts on the Sheriff’s Accountability to the Voters Act, which keeps authority over Sheriffs with the voters who elected them, go to https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/2387 

Washington voters should never involuntarily lose the right to hire/elect or fire/recall their Sheriff. This session, lawmakers should strengthen that principle, not dismantle it.