‘I’m not going to accept it’: Pierce County sheriff warns against bill allowing state to remove sheriffs

Late last week, the controversial bill that grants the state the power to remove elected county sheriffs passed both the House and the Senate, and is now awaiting Governor Bob Ferguson’s signature.

The bill, Senate Bill 5974, passed in the House of Representatives on a party-line vote. The House of Representatives voted on the bill after approximately eight hours of debate. KIRO host John Curley had Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank on to discuss legislation.

“They now have the power if you or any other sheriff says something that they don’t like or does something they don’t like, you have to go before this committee, and then this committee takes a look at your behavior, and if they determine, even though you were elected by the people of Pierce County, the Washington state criminal justice commission will take away your job,” Curley told Swank.

“That’s what they say, but hey, I’ve been a cop. I’m on my 35th year. I’ve been shot at. People have tried to stab me. A guy put a gun to my head, pulled the trigger, and it fell in an empty chamber. I could have been dead and I was 24 years old,” Swank replied. “This doesn’t scare me at all. I have been laying my life on the line for our communities in this country, and I’m standing up for the rights of people. If I can’t say what’s on my mind, exercise my First Amendment rights, then nobody will be able to, so this is all about things speech that I say that they don’t like.”

Swank frequently posts his thoughts and opinions on social media, primarily X. He retired from the SPD after a 30-year career shortly after the Office of Police Accountability launched an investigation into his posts on X. A disciplinary report, signed by former interim police chief Sue Rahr, accused Swank of making “biased, inflammatory” social media posts while he was still working as a police captain for SPD. According to Rahr, he would have been fired from the department if he still worked there.

He was elected sheriff of Pierce County in November 2024.

Swank’s social media activity

Over the past few years, Swank has discussed many topics on his socials, including posts that read “Democrats let violent animals like this (referring to a suspect) back out on the streets to kill Americans,” “Nancy Pelosi coordinated the deadly attack” (referring to Jan. 6), and “Do you think it’s time to ban trans people from owning guns?”

“Like a CEO of a corporation has to watch what they say, you have to hold the line on this and watch what you say, because, yes, you’re practicing your First Amendment rights, but at the same time, somebody could misconstrue what you’re saying, and then see it apply to action,” Curley told Swank. “Don’t you have to kind of watch what you say more than the average Joe?”

“They’re not going to tell me how to behave, and I’m not going to accept it. So they could say or pass whatever they want. I’m the flipping sheriff of Pierce County. If you don’t like me, you can unelect me,” Swank said. “And I’ll tell you this, if they pass something to just certify me and try to remove me from office, I said it before, I’m just reading Facebook here and people are saying, ‘When are you ready to go, Sheriff?’ ‘We’re going to stand and defend you,’ and ‘We’re going to protest anything like this.’ This may be what needs to happen, John, because of the overreach of this tyrannical government that has been in charge for 40 years, imposing its will upon us, and I’m standing up against them.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.