King County, Washington, Charter Amendment 5, Return Sheriff to an Appointed Position Measure (2020)

King County Charter Amendment 5
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Local law enforcement
Status a Approved
Type Referral	Origin Lawmakers
List of Washington measuresWashington Referendum 90Washington Senate Joint Resolution 8212Washington Advisory Vote 32Washington Advisory Vote 33Washington Advisory Vote 34Washington Advisory Vote 35Submit

A measure to return the sheriff to an appointed position rather than an elected position was on the ballot for King County voters in King County, Washington, on November 3, 2020. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported returning the office of the sheriff from an elected position to an appointed position that is appointed by the county executive and confirmed by the county council.

A "no" vote opposed returning the office of the sheriff to an appointed position and supported continuing to elect the county sheriff.

Election results

King County Charter Amendment 5
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		627,456	55.60%
No		500,992	44.40%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Measure design

On July 21, 2020, the King County Council sent two charter amendments related to the office of the King County Sheriff to the November 3, 2020 ballot: a measure to return the sheriff to an appointed position rather than an elected position and a measure to allow the county council to determine (and potentially decrease) the duties of the sheriff rather than allowing those duties to be determined by state law. Both measures were approved.

Going into 2020, the sheriff was elected by King County voters to four-year terms. Under Charter Amendment 5, the sheriff became an appointed position, with the sheriff appointed by the county executive and confirmed by a majority of the county council. The county charter provides that "any officer, board or commission member, or employee who is not a member of the career service may be removed at any time by the officer who appointed that person."

Going into 2020, the sheriff performed duties as enumerated by state law (rather than county ordinance). Additionally, the county charter contained a provision stating that the council could not decrease the duties of the sheriff's office (also known as the department of public safety). Under Charter Amendment 6, the sheriff's office (the department of public safety), performs duties as provided by county ordinance. The charter provision stating that the council could not decrease the duties of the sheriff's office was removed.

The measures both amended Section 350.20.40 of the County Charter. The measures were not dependent on each other for passage. With the approval of both measures, the section titled Department of Public Safety was changed to read as follows (with the previous provision provided below for comparison):

Both measures approved: "The chief officer of a department of public safety, who may also be referred to as the county sheriff, shall be an appointed position, subject to section 340 of this charter, and shall perform the duties specified by ordinance. Both the executive and the county council shall consider community stakeholder input during the selection, appointment and confirmation processes for appointment of chief officer of a department of public safety, as specified by ordinance. The department of public safety shall be an executive department subject to the civil service personnel system and shall utilize the services of the administrative offices and the executive departments." Previous provision: "The department of public safety shall be administered by the county sheriff who shall perform the duties specified by general law. The county sheriff shall be elected by the voters of the county, and the sheriff’s term of office shall be four years. The department of public safety shall be an executive department subject to the civil service personnel system and shall utilize the services of the administrative offices and the executive departments, but it shall not be abolished or combined with any other executive department or administrative office and shall not have its duties decreased by the county council."

Text of measure

Ballot question

The ballot question was as follows:

“

Shall the position of King County sheriff be returned to an appointed position with a requirement for consideration of community stakeholder input during the selection process, and with the county executive being responsible for bargaining with the department of public safety's represented employees?

”

Full text

The full text of the measure is available here.

Support

If you know of endorsements or arguments that should be posted here, email editor@ballotpedia.org.

Sponsors

The measure was sponsored in the King County Council by members Girmay Zahilay, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Joe McDermott and Rod Dembowski.

Supporters

Officials

• King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski (Nonpartisan)
• King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles (Nonpartisan)
• King County Councilmember Joe McDermott (Nonpartisan)
• King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay (Nonpartisan)

Arguments

• King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski: "It’s simply taking the politics in my view out of policing to get the best candidate possible out of a nationwide search.”

Opposition

If you know of endorsements or arguments that should be posted here, email editor@ballotpedia.org.

Opponents

Council members Kathy Lambert, Pete von Reichbauer, and Reagan Dunn voted against the measure. The Associated Press reported that "The council is nonpartisan, but all three 'no' votes have previously identified as Republicans, while all six 'yes' votes have identified as Democrats."

Background

History of the sheriff's office

The King County sheriff was an elected position until 1969 when the King County form of government was changed to a home rule form of government based on a charter rather than a general law form of government that is governed by state statutes. The King County sheriff was an appointed position— appointed by the county executive and subject to approval by the county council— from 1969 until 1996.

In 1996, Section 350.20.40 of the King County Charter was created to do the following:

• change the sheriff to an elected position;
• provide that the sheriff's duties are enumerated by state law rather than county ordinance; and
• provide that the county council could not abolish or combine the department of public safety with another county department or office, or decrease any of the department of public safety's duties (unlike the council can do for departments with appointed officers).

Sheriffs have been elected in Washington every four years since 1996. The King County sheriff, as of 2020, was Mitzi Johanknecht, who was elected in 2017 and was set to serve until 2021. Mitzi was endorsed by U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D). The sheriff prior to Johanknecht was John Urquhart (D), who served from 2012 to 2018. Urquhart was endorsed by King County Democrats.

State law concerning county sheriffs

Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 36.16.030 provides that, in every county, the following positions must be elected: county assessor, a county auditor, a county clerk, a county coroner, three county commissioners, a county prosecuting attorney, a county sheriff, and a county treasurer.

Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 36.28.010 enumerates the general duties of county sheriffs, which are as follows:

“

The sheriff is the chief executive officer and conservator of the peace of the county. In the execution of his or her office, he or she and his or her deputies: (1) Shall arrest and commit to prison all persons who break the peace, or attempt to break it, and all persons guilty of public offenses; (2) Shall defend the county against those who, by riot or otherwise, endanger the public peace or safety; (3) Shall execute the process and orders of the courts of justice or judicial officers, when delivered for that purpose, according to law; (4) Shall execute all warrants delivered for that purpose by other public officers, according to the provisions of particular statutes; (5) Shall attend the sessions of the courts of record held within the county, and obey their lawful orders or directions; (6) Shall keep and preserve the peace in their respective counties, and quiet and suppress all affrays, riots, unlawful assemblies and insurrections, for which purpose, and for the service of process in civil or criminal cases, and in apprehending or securing any person for felony or breach of the peace, they may call to their aid such persons, or power of their county as they may deem necessary.

”

George Floyd death and protests

See also: Policy changes in response to the killing of and protests about George Floyd

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested George Floyd, a black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process."

Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to protests and demonstrations over racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first protests took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. A protest in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host a protest over Floyd's death.

Click here to read more about responses to the killing of and protests about George Floyd.

Related 2020 ballot measures

See also: Local police-related ballot measures following the killing of and protests about George Floyd (November 2020)

Ballotpedia identified 18 local police-related or law enforcement measures on the ballot for November 3, 2020, that qualified following the death of George Floyd. The local ballot measures were on the ballot in nine cities and four counties within six states. The local ballot measures concerned police practices, police oversight boards and auditors, police staffing and funding levels, recordings from police body and dashboard cameras, and other policies.

State	Jurisdiction	Title	Description	Result
California	Los Angeles County	Measure J	Requires that no less than 10% of the county's general fund be appropriated to community programs and alternatives to incarceration	a
California	Oakland	Measure S1	Changes the powers, duties, and staffing of the Oakland Police Commission and creates the Office of Inspector General	a
California	San Diego	Measure B	Replaces the Community Review Board on Police Practices with the Commission on Police Practices that would be appointed by the city council to conduct investigations and subpoena witnesses and documents related to deaths resulting from police interactions and complaints made against police officers	a
California	San Francisco	Proposition D	Creates the Sheriff's Department Oversight Board and the Sheriff's Department Office of Inspector General	a
California	San Francisco	Proposition E	Removes the mandatory police staffing level from the city's charter	a
California	San Jose	Measure G	Authorizes the independent police auditor to review reports and records related to officer-involved shootings and uses of force	a
California	Sonoma County	Measure P	Makes changes to the powers and duties of the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach (IOLERO)	a/ot
Illinois	DuPage County	Law Enforcement Budget Advisory Referendum	Advises the county to continue to consider law enforcement and public safety as its top budgeting priority	a
Illinois	DuPage County	Law Enforcement Injury Risk Training Advisory Referendum	Advises the county to continue to fund and support law enforcement training methods that decrease the risk of injury to officers and suspects	a
Ohio	Akron	Release of Recordings from Police Body and Dashboard Cameras after Use of Force Charter Amendment	Requires recordings from police body and dashboard cameras documenting police use of force that results in death or serious injury to be released to the public	a
Ohio	Columbus	Issue 2	Creates the Civilian Police Review Board to investigate alleged police misconduct, subpoena testimony and evidence during the investigations, make recommendations to the Division of Police, and appoint and manage the new position of Inspector General for the Division of Police	a
Oregon	Portland	Measure 26-217	Establishes a new police oversight board in the city's charter	a
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Question 1	Adds language to the Philadelphia City Charter calling on the police department to "eliminate the practice of unconstitutional stop and frisk, consistent with judicial precedent"	a
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Question 3	Creates a Citizens Police Oversight Commission to replace the Police Advisory Commission	a
Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh	Independent Citizen Police Review Board Charter Amendment	Requires police officers to cooperate with investigations conducted by the Independent Citizen Police Review Board	a
Texas	Kyle	Proposition F	Amends the city charter to authorize the city council to adopt procedures and a committee to review the police department	a
Washington	King County	Charter Amendment 1	Requires investigations into all police-related deaths and to provide public attorneys to represent the decedent's family in the investigation	a
Washington	King County	Charter Amendment 4	Amends the county charter to authorize the Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (OLEO) to subpoena witnesses, documents, and other evidence in its investigations of law enforcement personnel	a
Washington	King County	Charter Amendment 5	Returns the office of the sheriff from an elected position to an appointed position that is appointed by the county executive and confirmed by the county council	a
Washington	King County	Charter Amendment 6	Gives the county council the authority to specify the duties of the sheriff	a

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing local ballot measures in Washington

This measure was introduced in the King County Council as Ordinance 2020-0205 on June 9, 2020. The measure was passed by a vote of 6 to 3 on July 21, 2020. The measure was passed by a vote of 6 to 3 on July 21, 2020. Council members Kathy Lambert, Pete von Reichbauer, and Reagan Dunn voted against both measures. The Associated Press reported that "The council is nonpartisan, but all three 'no' votes have previously identified as Republicans, while all six 'yes' votes have identified as Democrats."

See also

Local measures

• Local measures in 2020
• Local law enforcement on the ballot
• County governance on the ballot
• King County measures

Washington

• November 3, 2020 measures in Washington
• Local ballot measures, Washington
• King County, Washington

News and analysis

• State and local preemption conflicts
• Measures advancing national agendas

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• King County Elections Office website