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Thurston County extends lateral‑hire incentives for sheriff's deputies; sheriff says laterals shorten training time and cut overtime costs
Summary
The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners extended a pilot program June 17 to continue incentives aimed at recruiting lateral deputy sheriffs and lateral corrections deputies, switching from hiring bonuses to leave awards and referral leave.
Thurston County commissioners voted June 17 to extend a pilot program that provides incentives to attract lateral deputy sheriffs and lateral corrections deputies from other law-enforcement agencies.
Human Resources Director Maria Ponte told the board the pilot had produced 59 qualified patrol applicants in the first outreach with 14 hires on the patrol side and 25 qualified correction applicants with two hires for corrections during the initial effort. Ponte said the program originally included hiring bonuses that will be removed for the extension; instead the sheriff’s office will focus on awarding 40 hours of vacation and 40 hours of sick leave to lateral…
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