Court rejects attempt to block Pierce County charter amendment that would remove elected sheriff

Multiple former Pierce County officials sued the county to challenge a proposal that would change the position of sheriff from elected to appointed. On Friday, a Thurston County Superior Court judge dismissed the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction that sought to prevent the charter amendment from being printed on the ballot. The charter amendment will now appear before voters this fall.

“During and after the Charter Commission process, many have claimed sheriffs must be elected. All one must do is read the State Constitution to see otherwise, and today our judicial system affirmed that,” former Pierce County Charter Review Commissioner Justin Leighton told KIRO Newsradio via email. “I am glad that democracy will move forward and Pierce County voters will not be denied the right to vote on Amendment 53.”

Amendment 53 would end Swank’s term and let the county executive pick his replacement

Several amendments to Pierce County’s charter will be on the ballot this November, including Charter Amendment 53, which would change the Pierce County Sheriff from an elected position to an appointed one. If this proposal passes, it would consequently terminate Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank’s four-year term on January 1, 2027. Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello would then appoint a new sheriff.

“I am not part of that lawsuit,” Swank told KIRO Newsradio last week. “I am not in coordination with them. I support it wholeheartedly. I believe the people of Pierce County should have the right to vote for and elect a sheriff of their choosing,” Swank said. “Even if it means, if I run again, that they vote against me.”

The lawsuit painted the amendment as politically motivated.

“Mello has publicly stated he is ready to appoint, and it will not be Swank,” the lawsuit, obtained by KIRO Newsradio, read. “Mello is seeking to convert elected offices to appointed offices to centralize control of county government in his office.”

Plaintiffs argue voters, not the county executive, should choose the sheriff

The lawsuit was filed in Thurston County Superior Court by Hollie Rogge, a former representative for District 3 in Pierce County, Brian Sonntag, a former Pierce County clerk and auditor, and Jeff Joseph, a former Republican committee officer.

“Charter Amendment 53 invades my right to elect a sheriff,” Sonntag wrote in the lawsuit. “Amendment 53 violates my rights as a resident to service from the elected sheriff for his full four-year term.”

Swank previously voiced his support for the lawsuit, adding that he is filing what he calls the “People’s Charter Amendment.” The measure would preserve the elected, nonpartisan sheriff position, restore a four-year term approved by voters in 2024, and establish term limits for the sheriff, auditor, and assessor-treasurer.

Supporters would have 180 days to gather signatures after a ballot title is approved.

“Sheriff Swank was elected during a presidential election when voter turnout was at its highest,” the lawsuit read. “Amendment 53 will be on the ballot where far fewer voters will decide the outcome.”

Rogge warns of ‘dangerous precedent’ for removing elected officials

Since Swank replaced former Sheriff Ed Troyer in the November 2024 election, defeating Patti Jackson, he has been in the spotlight for comments he’s made publicly and on social media.

In the lawsuit, Rogge stated concerns that Amendment 53 would set a “dangerous precedent” by overruling and dismissing the recall process for removing an elected official.

“If an elected officer may be removed by Charter Amendment, the council would have the power to recommend Pierce County voters amend the Pierce County Charter to eliminate any office, and its office holder whose speech does not align with majority rule, without a recall process,” Rogge wrote in the lawsuit. “This would include fellow councilmembers.”

This story was originally published Aug. 26, 2026. It has been updated and republished since then.

Contributing: Frank Lenzi, KIRO Newsradio

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