Sheriff Derek Sanders actively hiring more deputies despite budget cut
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Thurston County works to close 2026 budget deficit
Thurston County commissioners are deciding how to close an estimated $36 million budget gap in the general fund, the county’s primary operating fund, for 2026.
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The Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders aims to hire more deputies despite facing a budget cut.
The agency is facing a $2.5 million budget cut for 2026, which is about 4% of the agency’s combined law enforcement and corrections budgets.
The Board of County Commissioners approved the reduction target for the Sheriff’s Office last month. The decision came after Sanders rallied his supporters to oppose a deeper cut to his office. This week, Sanders shared on Facebook that the budget cut will have a minimal impact on public safety and not impede him from continuing plans to hire more patrol deputies.
“I’m grateful for our community members who showed up to support TCSO and wrote their representatives,” Sanders said in a post on Nov. 9. “I am also grateful for our County Commissioners who worked tirelessly to reduce the impact of cuts to public safety during this budget session.”
This year, the Board has made a series of decisions to plug away at an estimated initial $36 million gap in the 2026 general fund budget. That gap has since been reduced to about $9.8 million, but the impacts will still be felt across county government.
“Prior to this cut, Thurston County Sheriff’s Office was already one of the lowest staffed offices in the state,” Sanders said in the post. “Despite this, we’ve remained one of the most effective offices in the country. We just want to keep what we have.”
Sheriff’s Office adding more deputies
On Tuesday, Sanders shared that his office is actively seeking to hire 10 experienced law enforcement officers to be patrol deputies.
Each of these hires could earn a six-figure annual income. Sanders said the base salary for these positions can be as high as $110,000, depending on experience.
On Nov. 12, Sanders shared that his office will add another patrol deputy position supported by $133,000 in grant funding from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. This deputy will be dedicated to catching impaired drivers.
Sanders said this deputy will be incorporated into a traffic enforcement unit next year. That unit will include four traffic enforcement deputies, one commercial vehicle/construction zone enforcement deputy assigned to the county’s Public Works department and a sergeant to lead the unit.
“The four traffic enforcement deputies will be assigned to both day and night shift, with focus on DUI, reckless driving, and collision investigation/reconstruction,” Sanders said in his post.
Sanders said the traffic unit patrol cars will have a “white-hot” design and have “traffic unit” labeling. Additionally, he said the cars will be equipped with either a grappler or Starchase unit.
A grappler is “pursuit-alternative technology that uses a bumper-mounted system to snare the rear tire of fleeing vehicles with a net. Once attached, deputies are tethered to the fleeing vehicle and can slow down to stop it.
Starchase is a GPS tracker that is fired from a mechanism mounted on the front of a patrol vehicle. Once attached to a fleeing vehicle, deputies can disengage from a pursuit and track the vehicle’s location with a map platform.
“The number one complaint I get is speeding and reckless driving (often due to impairment), so this unit offers an opportunity to keep us on the path of safer roads,” Sanders said.
In a Nov. 13 news release, the Sheriff’s Office announced it would match the commitment from WTSC and fund a second dedicated DUI enforcement deputy.
“Together, these positions will provide dedicated DUI enforcement coverage seven days a week, substantially increasing our capacity to keep impaired drivers off the road, save lives and strengthen public safety throughout the county,” the release states.
The Sheriff’s Office intends to start the two positions on Dec. 1.
What’s being cut to meet the $2.5 million reduction?
To meet $2.5 million budget reduction, Sanders intends to cut 13 vacant corrections deputy positions assigned to a jail work release program. He said this action should save about $1.9 million.
“We intentionally have left these positions vacant over the last few months to ensure no layoffs occurred,” Sanders said.
The work release program has been indefinitely suspended for years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a “dwindling population” of qualifying inmates, Sanders shared last month.
Earlier this year, Sanders repurposed a building next to the jail that was dedicated to that program. The building now serves as a “jail training facility,” Sanders said, and is staffed with a jail instructor.
The facility reportedly features workout equipment, defensive tactics mats, mock jail cells, showers and computer stations.
To meet the remaining budget cuts needed, Information Technology costs for deputies hired under the Public Safety Sales Tax will be billed to that sales tax fund rather than the general fund. This will allow the Sheriff’s Office to count $450,000 toward their general fund cut.
The Sheriff’s Office is also eliminating an unspent allocation of $68,000 for contracted jail housing and $74,000 from their overtime and training budget. Sanders said he will seek to restore the latter cut once more funding becomes available in the future.
This story was originally published November 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
