Joint Animal Services to negotiate two-year contract to provide Mason County field services

Joint Animal Services Executive Director Sarah Hock told commissioners on April 21 that staff will seek authority from the commission to negotiate a two-year, $175,000 contract to provide limited animal control field services to Mason County.

Hock said the contract proposal would fund one full-time animal control officer assigned to Mason County (a two-year limited-term hire tied to the contract), administrative costs, and an initial sheltering contingency. "That $175,000 would include one Animal Control Officer ... and it also covers part of this contract would include up to 25 animals, more specifically dogs and cats, that we would house from a sheltering standpoint," Hock said. She added the sheltering contingency is budgeted at about $50,000 to cover specific seizure incidents.

The proposal would not cover routine stray-animal responses across Mason County, Hock said. The contract would limit field responses to defined, higher-priority situations and operational hours; Mason County could request emergency responses under narrowly defined conditions, such as law-enforcement assists or seriously injured animals. Hock said staff outlined which calls the contracted officer would and would not handle and that some terms would remain negotiable with Mason County and JASCOM leadership.

Sierra Teas, the commission's animal welfare and field services manager, explained the operational approach: experienced officers would stage in Mason County to launch the program and then rotate staff through the assignment while the limited-term hire is trained. "We would be hiring one ACO for the two-year limited contract ... my senior officers will be stationed in Mason County at the beginning of the contract to get the program running," Teas said. She added that the contract would not start until a hire was in place so the arrangement would not reduce service levels for existing interlocal agreement partners (Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and unincorporated Thurston County).

Commissioners and staff discussed mutual-aid implications. Hock and Teas said the contract would not eliminate the agency's ability to provide mutual aid to other jurisdictions, but calls outside the contract's scope could require separate agreements or cost negotiations. Staff emphasized that large-scale cruelty or mass-seizure events would remain subject to prior coordination, management approval and, where required, additional funding from Mason County.

The commission did not take a formal vote on the contract at the April meeting. Because not all member jurisdictions were present, staff sought JASCOM's authorization to continue negotiating contract terms and to return with a formal agreement and staffing details at a later meeting. Several commissioners indicated support during discussion; one commissioner said, "I'm all in." Hock and staff will present a negotiated contract for a formal vote at a future JASCOM meeting.

Why it matters: The contract would extend Joint Animal Services' field operations into Mason County, generate revenue for the agency, and create a two-year, limited-term position while limiting sheltering exposure. The arrangement is intended as a stopgap to help Mason County stand up a more permanent animal control program.

Next steps: Staff will continue negotiations with Mason County, finalize operational hours and written emergency definitions, return with detailed cost breakdowns and staffing plans, and bring a formal contract for JASCOM approval at a later meeting once jurisdictional representatives can vote.