WA bill that could remove elected sheriffs clears House on party-line vote

A bill that would give a state board the power to remove an elected sheriff from office cleared the Washington House early Friday morning after nearly eight hours of debate, passing on a party-line vote with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed.

Senate Bill 5974, sponsored by Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, now heads back to the Senate for concurrence. If approved there, it goes to Governor Bob Ferguson for his signature.

The bill would raise the minimum age for sheriff candidates from 18 to 25, require at least five years of full-time law enforcement experience, and mandate background checks and certification from the Criminal Justice Training Commission. It would also allow the commission, an appointed state board, to revoke certification for misconduct, triggering automatic removal from office for elected sheriffs.

Lovick framed the bill as a matter of basic consistency.

“Why not hold law enforcement leaders appointed or elected to the standards of accountability and professionalism that their subordinates are held to?” he said, according to KOMO News. “Peace officers do not lose their standards for being unpopular. There are objective standards for decertification.”

In an earlier hearing, Lovick added: “Since all peace officers must maintain a certification, these laws need to be updated to make clear what occurs when a law enforcement leader’s certification is revoked for misconduct,” according to The Center Square.

Supporters stated that polling shows 75% of likely Washington voters back the bill, viewing it as a necessary update to qualifications that haven’t been meaningfully revised in decades.

Critics call it an attack on voter sovereignty

Opponents came out hard against the measure, arguing it strips voters of their right to choose and remove their own sheriff.

“The most concerning provision of SB 5974 grants an unelected state board the authority to remove a duly elected sheriff from office,” Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said in an official statement. “This represents a fundamental shift of power away from voters and toward centralized authority.”

Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels went further in video testimony during a House committee hearing, claiming the bill “undermines two bedrock principles of Washington state law: voter sovereignty and free elections,” according to KHQ.

“Sheriffs who dare push back get targeted,” Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank, one of the bill’s most vocal critics, posted on X before the vote. “This is payback, not policy.”

Republicans echoed that sentiment during the debate, with some calling it the “get rid of Keith Swank bill,” arguing Democrats were using legislation to remove a sheriff they couldn’t beat at the ballot box.

What happens next

Sheriffs in Washington are elected in 38 of the state’s 39 counties. Critics argued the bill creates a mechanism for politically motivated removal by a governor-appointed board with no direct accountability to voters. Supporters countered that certification standards apply to every other peace officer in the state, and elected status shouldn’t exempt someone from basic professional requirements.

The bill cleared the Senate previously and now awaits concurrence before heading to Ferguson’s desk.

Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here. 

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