King County Sheriff Johanknecht under investigation for granting $10K in vacation hours

KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show revealed on Tuesday that the King County Office of the Ombuds is investigating King County Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht for granting a request for 144 excess vacation carryover hours — equal to 18 days, over $10,000 in pay — to an employee who was instrumental in her 2017 campaign.

Johanknecht approved the request to carry the excess hours from 2017 to 2018 for now-Undersheriff Scott Somers — who held the title of captain in 2017 — shortly after becoming King County Sheriff in January 2018.

According to county code, employees are only allowed to carry over 480 vacation hours (60 days) per year, and must manage their vacation if they wish not to lose any hours beyond this limit. They are permitted to submit a vacation carryover request to their division appointing authority, who then — if in agreement with the employee — must submit it to the department director; however, the employee must demonstrate that the inability to use vacation hours was due to “cyclical workloads, work assignments or other reasons as may be in the best interests of the county.”

A sheriff’s office spreadsheet from the final days of 2017 indicates that while over 100 employees had vacation hours in excess of the 480 allowed, only one — the senior manager of Human Resources — had been approved to carry over hours; the carryover hours amounted to 16 out of 88 excess hours.

RELATED: King County executive accused of using elite detectives as personal chauffeurs 

In November 2017, Somers originally submitted a request for 176 vacation hours (22 days) to his supervisor, then-Major Johanknecht, who approved it. Somers stated as his reasoning that he was too busy assisting Johanknecht in her transition to sheriff to take vacation.

However, then-Sheriff John Urquhart denied the request a few weeks later, writing, “Capt. Somers had ample opportunity to use excess vacation during 2017, including carry-over from 2016. All command staff are expected to manage their vacation so excess vacation is not accrued.”

In January 2018, once in office as King County Sheriff, Johanknecht approved a slightly smaller amount of 144 carryover hours for Somers.

When requested by the Office of the Ombuds in December 2018 to respond to a “gift of public funds complaint,” Johanknecht wrote in a letter that she “had the authority to take this action in 2018 and that it is consistent with the discretion provided in the Code [sic] and policy.”

She stated that it was her belief that Somers’ immense help during her election campaign and transition period prevented him from using his vacation hours.

Scott Somers not only encouraged my candidacy, he openly supported me during my campaign. He provided strategic support and advice and frankly, some of the concerns that were raised during the election were critical of decisions and actions by the former Sheriff [sic] … Had he not been supporting my candidacy and transition planning, I believe Somers would certainly have had far more opportunity to use accrued leave.”

Johanknecht went on to express misgivings over the reason for Urquhart’s refusal to grant the request in the first place, noting that she “thought it was possible that Somers’ denial was intended to punish him for openly supporting [her] in [her] campaign.”

Somers’ case was not the only request for 2017-2018 vacation carryover approved by Johanknecht once in office. According to county emails, Major Robin Fenton requested a carryover of hours exceeding 480 in February 2018 after realizing she made a math error in calculating her vacation balance. This request, much smaller than that of Somers, was for 11 hours, amounting to roughly a day-and-a-half of vacation.

“She was not a part of my campaign or transition team,” Johanknecht stated in the letter. “I believed her claim that she did her best to manage her excess leave, a mistake was made, and I approved her request.”

The Office of the Ombuds expects to finish its investigation at the end of this month or the beginning of next month.

“For the rank-and-file, for the cops on the street — I know some great men and women who work for the King County Sheriff’s Office, and it’s a tough gig, and most of them had to forfeit their excess vacation,” Monson commented on his show Tuesday. “But the big dog who worked on the sheriff’s campaign? He gets you and me to gift him over $10,000 in excess vacation.”

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Follow @NicoleKIROFM