Sheriff seeks to keep noncash recruitment incentives; commissioners ask for countywide equity and cost analysis

The Thurston County sheriff's office on Tuesday presented results from a recruitment incentives pilot aimed at attracting lateral law enforcement candidates and asked the Board of County Commissioners to continue the program without the cash bonus component.

Maria Pontiac, presenting on behalf of the sheriff's office, said the pilot was designed to incentivize lateral candidates — officers hired from other agencies who require less training time. The sheriff's office reported 59 qualified patrol lateral applicants since January 2024, of whom 19 were hired; on the corrections side there were 25 applicants and two hires. The program also included an employee referral incentive that awarded leave hours to staff who recruited successful candidates.

Sheriff Sanders said the program had been "successful for us" and recommended eliminating the cash bonus while keeping leave-based incentives. "We just asking for now is to get rid of the cash bonus... and keep the things that aren't costing us the actual cash bonus money," Sanders said.

Commissioners asked whether all elected offices and departments can offer similar leave-bank incentives and requested information about countywide equity and cost implications. Staff said commissioners had previously approved up to 40 hours of leave offers for appointing authorities in March and that the county is negotiating with unions about implementation for unionized employees. Commissioners also discussed whether a countywide employee-referral incentive could be established and asked staff to estimate the fiscal effect if other departments requested similar programs.

The item will be moved to department items for further review and additional requested analyses, including cost implications and whether to retain cash bonuses for corrections staffing where vacancies remain higher.