5974-S2 AMH WALJ LANG 230

2SSB 5974 - H AMD TO H AMD (H-3747.1/26) 2343

NOT ADOPTED 03/05/2026

On page 1, beginning on line 3 of the striking amendment, after "Sec. 1." strike all material through "repealed" on page 3, line 17 and insert "The legislature finds that the office of county sheriff is established in Article XI of the state Constitution as an elected constitutional office, directly accountable to the voters of each county. Since statehood, the sheriff has been chosen by the electorate and has remained subject to removal only through constitutional mechanisms, including regular elections and the recall process set forth in Article I, sections 33 and 34 of the state Constitution. For more than a century, this structure has reflected a consistent and settled understanding that the authority to select and remove a sheriff rests with the people of the county, not with appointed administrative bodies of the state.

The legislature further finds that this constitutional design embodies the principles of local control, voter sovereignty, and democratic accountability. The sheriff, unlike appointed officials, derives authority directly from the ballot and answers ultimately to the electorate. Long-standing precedent and practice in Washington have respected this distinction and have not vested in appointed boards or commissions the power to remove a sitting elected sheriff from office.

The legislature recognizes that the provisions of this act represent a departure from that historical and constitutional framework by authorizing an appointed state body to revoke certification in a manner that results in the removal or effective removal of an elected sheriff from office. In doing so, the act permits an unelected commission to override the expressed will of the voters of a county and alters a system that has existed since the adoption of the state constitution. The legislature acknowledges that such a shift reallocates authority from the electorate to an appointed administrative entity and is contrary to the long-standing precedent that the tenure of an elected sheriff is determined by the voters.

Notwithstanding this constitutional history and established practice, the legislature expressly determines through this act to authorize an appointed state commission to exercise removal authority over an elected sheriff through the certification process. In approving this structure, the legislature affirms its intent to reallocate removal authority from the voters to a state-appointed body, recognizing that this represents a significant and unprecedented modification of the traditional constitutional role of the sheriff as an officer accountable directly to the electorate"

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