Residents, sheriff press commissioners as Thurston County budget cuts target public safety

Sheriff Derek Sanders and dozens of Thurston County residents urged the Board of County Commissioners to spare or restore proposed cuts to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office during a long public-comment period Tuesday.

"We as elected officials can better educate our citizens on the very real systemic problems that are facing county level government," Sanders told the board, adding that Washington ranks low on officers per capita and that local staffing remains below national averages. He warned that deputies and support staff will face 2026's operational pressures with reduced resources.

Chair Ty Minster and staff told the assembled residents the board has been negotiating reductions across nearly every office and department to reconcile a structural budget deficit. The chair said the board had reduced a previously proposed sheriff cut from about $13.2 million to roughly $2.5 million "—a number we're not quite at yet"—and that preliminary decisions were expected the next day.

Public commenters voiced a range of concerns. Many residents, including volunteers and public-safety professionals, said recent increases in deputy staffing and visible enforcement have improved safety and should be preserved. Ron Schnell, a Johnson Point resident, said the sheriff's office "has improved the staffing" and urged the board not to cut funding because it would increase long-term costs, such as damage to property and increased workload for prosecutors.

Several commenters recounted personal incidents and said reduced staffing would lengthen response times and make their neighborhoods less safe. Others urged shifting cuts away from law enforcement to other parts of the county budget. A smaller group of commenters asked the board to maintain or protect funding for climate programs and social services, and some speakers described concerns about enforcement practices and called for accountability measures in the sheriff's office.

The chair and individual commissioners repeatedly described the budget as difficult and widespread: "Nearly every office and department in the county will be seeing budget reductions for 2026," the chair said, noting limitations on county revenue and the role of restricted funds. Commissioners encouraged continued public engagement and noted that the sheriff and the board had sent shared communications to the county's independent salary commission indicating an unwillingness to take raises during the crisis.

Ending: No final budget vote occurred at the meeting; staff and commissioners said more proposals and preliminary decisions would be considered the following day and that public comment was well timed for the deliberations.