Area sheriffs urge Gov. Bob Ferguson to veto ‘let’s get rid of Keith Swank’ bill
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bill SB 5974 would allow ousting sheriffs who are decertified by CJTC.
- House approved the amended bill 54-42 after intense debate.
- Sheriffs Swank and Sanders urge Gov. Ferguson to veto; sponsor defends standards.
One of the 2026 session’s most intensely debated bills is headed to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk: Senate Bill 5974, which imposes stricter eligibility requirements for Washington sheriffs and other law enforcement leaders.
Now Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank and Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders are urging Gov. Bob Ferguson to veto the bill.
Ferguson’s office did not return McClatchy’s request for comment.
Washington sheriffs have broadly rung alarm bells about the measure’s provision that would allow the ousting of sheriffs who get decertified by the state’s Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC); the board is composed of gubernatorial appointees.
Some critics see the bill as taking aim at one outspoken top cop in particular: Swank.
SB 5974’s sponsor, Democratic Sen. John Lovick of Mill Creek, has referred to worries about the legislation potentially paving the way for politically motivated removals as misguided, KUOW reports. He’s maintained that it is about holding law enforcement leaders to account, and to the same high standards they expect of their officers.
An amended version of SB 5974 passed off the House floor late last week on a 54-42 vote after hours of debate. Four Democrats joined all Republicans in voting against the measure: representatives Mari Leavitt of University Place, Adison Richards of Gig Harbor, Clyde Shavers of Clinton and Amy Walen of Kirkland. Senate lawmakers on Monday agreed to the House’s changes to the bill on a 30-19 party-line vote.
One of the proposed House amendments that the Democratic majority shot down would have exempted current sheriff’s officeholders from the possibility of removal upon decertification.
During last week’s debate, Republican Rep. Josh Penner of Orting called it an “important amendment to the ‘let’s get rid of Keith Swank’ bill” before the acting speaker urged him to refrain from speculating about fellow lawmakers’ motives.
Penner said in a Monday call that the bill creates basic assumptions about who can serve as sheriff, such as whether they’re a law enforcement officer or executive — and grounds their job in the former.
“It fundamentally changes the job and also makes it subject to a very political board,” he said.
Lovick, himself a former Snohomish County sheriff, told McClatchy in a written statement that the bill doesn’t single anyone out. Conversely, it outlines the same objective, clear conduct standards for those enforcing the law, he said.
Officials face decertification for engaging in a serious act of misconduct like committing a felony, sexual abuse, domestic assault or lying under oath, he said. Lovick also referred to polling indicating that three-quarters of the state’s voters back the bill, as found in a new survey by Emerson College Polling for the Northwest Progressive Institute.
“If anyone specific comes to mind when folks think ‘Decertified for Misconduct,’” Lovick continued, “that says more about them than it says about the intent of this bill.”
Swank came under fire earlier this session for his testimony against SB 5974, with the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs considering expulsion for comments it said could be viewed as “threatening” to lawmakers. He’d told the Senate Law & Justice Committee during a January public hearing that he didn’t recognize the lawmakers’ authority to place such controls over him.
“When you try to remove me from office, thousands of Pierce County residents will surround the County-City Building in downtown Tacoma and will not allow that to happen,” Swank said at the time. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I and they are prepared. Are you prepared?”
Elected in 2024, Swank has quickly carved out a reputation for being outspoken. Many of his social media posts draw ire from critics, particularly his comments regarding transgender people.
CJTC is investigating seven cases against Swank stemming from 15 complaints made against him, per Gig Harbor Now.
Swank noted in a Monday call that lawmakers have pursued this legislation since before he took office. Still, he said of Penner’s branding of the bill: “I think that’s a great nickname for it.”
Penner believes that Swank’s combative relationship with CJTC appears to be the root of the legislation’s current effort. Some ideas that have percolated in Olympia for years pass when the time is right, he said. One example the lawmaker pointed to: the proposed income tax.
Swank said he anticipates a legal battle if Ferguson signs SB 5974 into law, and that he isn’t worried it would be used to decertify and oust him from office. Perhaps the bill is needed for “people to see the overreach of state government,” he said.
“Maybe, if they decertify me … and then try to remove me from office because of something that I said, maybe it needs to come to that so that people can see what’s going on here,” Swank said.
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