Multiple former Pierce County officials sued the county to challenge a proposal that would change the position of sheriff from elected to appointed. On Friday, a Thurston County Superior Court judge dismissed the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction that sought to prevent the charter amendment from being printed on the ballot. The charter amendment will now appear before voters this fall.
“During and after the Charter Commission process, many have claimed sheriffs must be elected. All one must do is read the State Constitution to see otherwise, and today our judicial system affirmed that,” former Pierce County Charter Review Commissioner Justin Leighton told KIRO Newsradio via email. “I am glad that democracy will move forward and Pierce County voters will not be denied the right to vote on Amendment 53.”
Amendment 53 would end Swank’s term and let the county executive pick his replacement
Several amendments to Pierce County’s charter will be on the ballot this November, including Charter Amendment 53, which would change the Pierce County Sheriff from an elected position to an appointed one. If this proposal passes, it would consequently terminate Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank’s four-year term on January 1, 2027. Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello would then appoint a new sheriff.
“I am not part of that lawsuit,” Swank told KIRO Newsradio last week. “I am not in coordination with them. I support it wholeheartedly. I believe the people of Pierce County should have the right to vote for and elect a sheriff of their choosing,” Swank said. “Even if it means, if I run again, that they vote against me.”…