Today, the Washington State Senate Democrat Majority, on a party-line vote, passed Senate Bill 5974, a measure critics warn is an undemocratic, unconstitutional shift in how local law enforcement is governed. The bill would grant the Criminal Justice Training Commission, a board of gubernatorial appointees, the unprecedented power to decertify and remove a duly elected County Sheriff from office.
By allowing an unelected state board to override local elections, the bill creates a significant constitutional conflict. Opponents argue it forces sheriffs to choose between their oath to the U.S. Constitution and new state mandates, and effectively strips voters of their right to hold their own law enforcement leaders accountable.
Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton and the Deputy Senate Republican Leader, released the following statement in response:
“The bill the Democrat Majority passed today without a single Republican vote flies in the face of our democracy, our republic, and everything we stand for. The will of the voters should stand; if citizens are dissatisfied with the job a sheriff is doing, they already possess the right to recall that official or vote them out of office in the next election.
“What occurred today on the Senate floor is unacceptable. By granting the Criminal Justice Training Commission the power to decertify a sheriff and remove them from office, the Legislature is putting its judgement ahead of the voters. This is a big issue in our state, because the majority party has sent mixed signals about what laws to follow and what laws not to follow. We have sheriffs attempting to work in cooperation with other branches of law enforcement, yet some in Olympia seem intent on penalizing that cooperation. If this bill passes the House and is signed by the Governor, it will give the state the ability to remove those sheriffs—and would effectively remove a currently serving, duly elected sheriff who does not meet the new requirements established in this bill.
“The Washington State Constitution clearly lays out how sheriffs should be elected and what their qualifications are. I stand by our constitution, and the state Legislature should do the same. Senate Republicans offered eight reasonable amendments to make this bill more workable and realistic, yet every single one of those reasonable amendments was rejected on a party-line vote.
“I have not heard from anyone in law enforcement who says they need this bill. On the contrary, I have heard from sheriffs and rank-and-file officers alike that this is a harmful piece of legislation. While law enforcement supports high professional standards, they do not support the requirements as written in this bill. Because this legislation now heads to the House of Representatives, I am urging the public to contact their House members and encourage them to vote ‘no’ on SB 5974 and protect the fundamental rights of voters in a county to elect their own sheriff.”
Of the more than14,700 Washingtonians who signed-in to the committee hearing with a position on SB 5974, 12,873 (or roughly 87.6%) signed-in “CON,” opposing the measure allowing the state to decertify an elected sheriff at-will.