Yakima County approves OPD fellowship agreement, appoints acting coroner and reviews multiple HR reclassifications

The Yakima County Board of Commissioners adopted an agreement with the Washington State Office of Public Defense (OPD) to accept fellowship funding for a summer public defense intern and approved the appointment of Marshall Sleight as interim coroner, the board said at its April 28, 2025 work session.

The OPD agreement (listed as agreement 1342025 in the meeting) will let the county accept state funds to pay one fellow the office has recruited, Paul Kelly, director of the county’s Office of Assigned Counsel, told commissioners. "This fellowship in the ... that's before you is one intern out of four that this office will have this summer," Kelly said, explaining OPD pays for so-called "rule nine" law students (rising 2Ls) under the statute that created the program.

That agreement was moved and seconded at the meeting and adopted by voice vote as "resolution 134-2025," according to the clerk’s record of the session.

Separately, the board approved resolution 93-2025 to appoint Marshall Sleight as acting coroner. The motion to appoint Sleight was moved and seconded and approved by voice vote, the board announced.

Commissioners also heard a human resources update from Judy Kendall, Yakima County Human Resources. Kendall presented a package of personnel items the county’s personnel committee had reviewed and recommended, including:

- Reclassifying an Office Specialist 1 to Office Specialist 2 in the Clerk's Office (sales tax fund) to create an internal promotional opportunity. - A pay-exception request for a lateral deputy sheriff hire to be placed at step 4 when the candidate’s prior experience meets the county’s criteria. - An out-of-class pay request for Jose Campos to perform duties of a recently retired employee at a 20% premium for up to six months. - Establishing a temporary district court administrator position and appointing Lorena Delviento to that temporary role at an annual rate of $130,000 while the court recruits a permanent administrator. - Reclassifying a vacant district court Office Specialist 1 to Office Specialist 2. - Reclassifying a Technology Services position for David Walton from Application Administrator to Business Analyst (a new classification the personnel committee previously brought to the board). - Two facilities out-of-class pay requests: 20% for Blake Erickson (temporarily filling as facilities director) and 20% for Jamie Abhold (temporarily taking on senior manager duties).

Kendall told the board the temporary district court administrator position was proposed because the existing district court administrator classification is tied to the county’s direct-report pay plan; creating a temporary position avoided immediately changing that pay plan by resolution. Commissioners asked clarifying procedural questions; Kendall confirmed the temporary pay rate is lower than the previous full-time administrator's pay and is intended as an interim measure while the court recruits a permanent administrator.

The board met in an executive session earlier in the meeting for about 30 minutes to discuss the performance of a public employee; the chair announced no decisions or actions were taken during that executive session.

Clerk of the Board Julie Lawrence handled the roll calls and formal motions recorded in the clerk’s minutes. The board paused briefly for technical audio issues but reconvened and completed the agenda items.

Ending: The board adjourned its work session after completing the listed actions and hearing the personnel update. Several HR items were recommendations from the personnel committee and will be implemented according to county hiring and payroll procedures.