Walla Walla County approves interlocal agreement to use College Place firing range

The Walla Walla County Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 on March 31 to approve an interlocal cooperative agreement allowing the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office to use the College Place Police Department firing range.

The resolution formalizes an arrangement similar in form to a prior agreement covering corrections staff, and commissioners said this version names the sheriff’s office as the party to the agreement. Commissioners discussed why the resolution text refers to the “Sheriff’s Department” while the sheriff’s office prefers the designation “Sheriff’s Office.” Chairman Fulmer said the text mirrors the language that came from College Place and that the county wanted clarity that the sheriff’s office is signing as the sheriff’s office, not a department.

County staff said the agreement is identical in form to a previously approved interlocal agreement and involves only different parties; commissioners expressed no objections to approving it. The motion to approve the agreement carried 3-0.

The vote completes the board’s formal approval; the agreement itself identifies operational details about range use and liability that were not read into the public record at the meeting and are not specified in the transcript.

The action is intended to provide a training resource for the sheriff’s personnel without the county building or maintaining its own firing range. Commissioners said the item was added to the agenda at the start of the meeting and moved forward as a standard interlocal cooperative arrangement.