‘If I end up removed, then so be it’: Sheriff Swank vows to fight Pierce County proposal that could remove him

Pierce County is weighing a proposal to appoint a sheriff rather than elect one, which, if passed, would remove current Sheriff Keith Swank from office in 2027.

Speaking on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Swank addressed the reasons why he thinks the Pierce County Charter Review Commission wants him out as sheriff, even though crime has been down under his watch.

Curley summarized Swank’s situation, asserting that the commission views him as an “existential threat to the county,” and would rather appoint a sheriff than let the “morons” of Pierce County vote for who they’d like.

“You’re right, that’s what it’s about,” Swank said. “My haters don’t like me; they want to make the sheriff an appointed position, but at the same time, remove me from office. They’re doing a recall without having to do the recall process of gathering signatures or going before a judge, talking about my malfeasance or misfeasance and all of that.”

Swank says the commission is trying to remove him without the recall process

In response to being characterized as an existential threat, Swank was blunt, highlighting his successes in reducing crime and noting that the commission views it as a threat to them.

“Existential threat? I don’t know, maybe because crime is down,” Swank said. “Burglary is down 43% since I became sheriff. Violent crime is down 35%. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m the threat, because they like to have crime through the roof. [Crime] isn’t down in Tacoma, but it’s down in unincorporated Pierce County, so maybe that’s the threat to them.”

When asked if there was anything positive about appointing a sheriff, Swank struggled to find any good in the situation.

“You put me on the spot there, saying something positive about that. An appointed sheriff would do the bidding of the executive, so I don’t really know what’s positive there other than they’ll make sure that if there’s any illegal activity going on with the council or the executive, nobody will know about it. They can help cover things up, I guess,” Swank said. “For the most part, whenever you’re appointed by somebody, you have to do what they want you to do, or you’ll be without a job. That’s why the independence of the sheriff is so important.”

Swank suggested the proposal wouldn’t be on the table if there were a Republican executive in the position to appoint a sheriff, and he argued the entire situation is strictly political.

“It’s the most partisan thing you’ve ever seen,” Swank said. “Now, democracy works by giving the king, Ryan Mellow, more power. This commission wants to empower the executive. They probably think, and they may be right, that Democrats have control now, so they will do that, because if it were a Republican executive in there, this would not be going [on the ballot] at all. They wouldn’t want a Republican picking their sheriff, so it’s completely partisan, completely political, and they’re banking on the fact that this county has turned Democrat.”

Swank vows to keep speaking out, even if it costs him the job

Many of Swank’s critics have taken issue with his unfiltered language, which he defends as his right to free speech, though at times, it is seen as extreme. In response, Swank said he is “pushing back” on being controlled and having his speech suppressed.

“Of course, I say provocative things because they’re telling me I can only say what they want me to say,” Swank said. “I know he who controls the language controls the masses, and they’re after that, and I’m pushing back. If I end up removed from office, then so be it.”

“Is this hill worth dying on?” Curley asked.

“Absolutely, it’s worth dying on, because I don’t need this job,” Swank said. “If I were needing this job to get my pension and everything, then maybe I would be a little more reluctant about it. But I think people are going to stand up, even people who don’t like me, they say they want to vote for their sheriff. They want to vote me out of office, but they don’t want the executive appointing, because they know I might be the executive someday, and then imagine who I would appoint. Myself. Imagine that, executive and sheriff, that’s what a king is.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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