Yakima commissions approve new and revised job classifications for police, jail, fire and victim services

City of Yakima commissions approved a new Community Services Specialist classification and several revisions to existing job classifications at a joint meeting April 14, 2025, moving to ease administrative burdens and broaden recruiting eligibility across police, corrections and fire staffing.

The actions, taken by the City of Yakima Charter Civil Service Commission and the Police and Fire Civil Service Commission, included creation of a lower-paid, office-focused Community Services Specialist (code 3163), expansion of lateral-hire pathways for Corrections Officer (code 6221), revisions to Victim Services Coordinator (code 3155) and Victim Services Senior Coordinator (code 3156) minimum qualifications, and updated certification expectations for a fire mechanic/Power Mechanic position (referenced in materials as code 8225 / 18225). All motions were approved by voice vote.

The new Community Services Specialist position was proposed by a police department staff member as a clerical support role to keep community service officers (CSOs) in the field. "This position won't go out in the field, and they won't do any animal enforcement. They will just process all the paperwork for the CSOs," the staff member said, describing rotating CSO duties that have required one officer each day to perform several hours of paperwork and counter duties. The commission voted to create the classification and indicated there are no current plans to refill the fifth CSO slot the department had previously budgeted.

The commission also approved a revision to the Corrections Officer classification to allow experienced employees from state prisons and other correctional facilities to be treated as lateral hires without attending the full Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission Corrections Academy. Captain Denise of the Yakima Police Department told commissioners the change aims to help recruiting amid understaffing: "Our jail...is at critical staffing levels, and we're backfilling with police officers, which...cost us a lot more than a corrections officer," she said. The package discussed an equivalency process that would require documentation of prior training and a shortened, modified academy attendance (described in the meeting as roughly two weeks) for those lateral hires.

Revisions to the victim services coordinator classifications stemmed from a staff-compiled memorandum that corrected omitted minimum qualifications. The chief examiner said the change aligns the victim services classifications with other police-department roles that require extensive background and application processes; the commission approved the revisions.

A fire-department representative asked the commission to tighten the certification language for a vacant fire mechanic/Power Mechanic position to specify reachable EVT (Emergency Vehicle Technician) certification levels within a new-employee's first year. The presenter said the revisions remove redundant automotive-service criteria and set certification expectations that are consistent with peer departments. The commission approved those changes as presented.

Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes from the March 10 meeting: approved by voice vote. - New classification: Community Services Specialist (code 3163): approved by voice vote. Motion made and seconded; outcome: approved. - Revision: Corrections Officer classification (code 6221) to expand lateral-hire equivalency to applicants with previous correctional training/experience in state facilities: approved by voice vote. - Revisions: Victim Services Coordinator (3155) and Victim Services Senior Coordinator (3156) to add minimum qualifications consistent with police-department hiring processes: approved by voice vote. - Revision: Fire Mechanic/Power Mechanic (materials referenced codes 18225 and 8225) to clarify EVT certification levels and probationary expectations: approved by voice vote.

The commissions received routine status reports from the police and fire departments and recorded no public comments. Commissioners discussed scheduling and said the next meeting will be moved to June; staff asked that items of a critical nature be submitted by May 15 to be considered for the June 2 meeting.

The meeting did not include changes to pay scales or binding budget amendments; the actions were limited to classification creation or revision and recruitment/process clarifications.