Democrat candidate for Thurston County sheriff Kevin Burton-Crow says that, despite his opponent’s claims, a proposed state law on increased standards for elected sheriffs would not impact his campaign.
Burton-Crow, who announced his campaign for sheriff in late January, posted to Facebook early Tuesday morning in response to a previous post from his opponent and incumbent Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders. In the post, Burton-Crow refutes the claim made in one of Sanders’ posts, that a stipulation in Senate Bill 5974 that requires five years of law enforcement experience to run for sheriff would disqualify him from running.
According to Burton-Crow, he was sworn in as a law enforcement officer with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office on March 16, 2021, and worked a shift as a patrol deputy that same day. That would mean he will celebrate five years since his first shift as a sworn in Thurston County law enforcement officer early next week.
“He said the law would disqualify me from being on the ballot because I wouldn't have five years of continuous, full-time law enforcement experience,” Burton-Crow wrote. “Well, he's just plain wrong.”
In a comment on the post, Burton-Crow further explains that many may arrive at the mistaken conclusion that he has not yet had five years of full-time service as a law enforcement officer because he entered and graduated from the basic law enforcement academy after his first shift. Because he served as a reserve officer for many years before being sworn in, he was already certified by the state Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) and was able to begin full-time work before heading to the academy.
He added that situations like this may require lawmakers to be more specific in their bills about what they consider to be full-time law enforcement employment.
The post appears to be a direct response to another from Sanders that was published Sunday evening. In that post, Sanders critiqued language in Senate Bill 5974 that would put experience requirements into effect by the end of April. He went on to say that the quick application of the law could jeopardize Burton-Crow's spot on the ballot and called on Gov. Bob Ferguson to veto the bill to prevent it from disqualifying candidates who have already declared their plans to run.
“The new standards require five years of continuous, full-time law enforcement experience with enforcement responsibilities,” Sanders wrote. “My opponent will be approximately three months short of that new minimum standard.”
The bill at issue has drawn broad skepticism from sheriffs across the state and vocal opposition from Sanders. The Thurston County sheriff has criticized, among other aspects of the bill, language that would allow for the removal of elected sheriffs if they are decertified by the CJTC.
The Washington state Legislature approved the bill late last week, sending it to the governor’s desk for signature.
For previous reporting by The Chronicle on Sanders’ recent opposition to the bill, visit https://tinyurl.com/yb8rmruk.
