Board reviews corrections MAT funding, Teamsters sergeants contract and sheriff staffing requests

Maren Fox, director of Corrections, told commissioners a consent-agenda amendment with the Washington State Health Care Authority will provide about $437,000 next year to offset the jail’s medication-assisted-treatment (MAT) costs; the overall contract term (March 1, 2022–June 30, 2027) has an approximate total value of $2.0 million.

Later in the session, Jessica Warren (listed in the transcript as "Heating Resources") presented a negotiated four-year Teamsters Local 58 contract for six corrections sergeants covering Jan. 1, 2025–Dec. 31, 2028. The negotiated increases include a 22 percent adjustment in 2025, 5.5 percent in 2026, and CPI-based increases in 2027–28 with a 3 percent floor and 5 percent ceiling; estimated incremental costs were summarized as roughly $150,000 (2025), $50,000 (2026) and $25,000–$45,000 in later years. The contract also maintains a minimum 5 percent differential above corrections officers’ top step and increases the county health-insurance contribution.

Sheriff Brad Thurman asked for authority to recruit to fill three deputy vacancies (in addition to three deputies hired last week who will start at the academy July 7) and two civilian positions (an administrative-promotion slot and a records role). He said the openings have produced reliance on overtime and temporary reassignment of detectives to patrol; Thurman requested early hires and three-month overlaps for two senior support positions — the sheriff’s finance/budget manager and the county’s emergency-management outreach coordinator — to ensure continuity when incumbents depart later in the year.

Thurman and commissioners also discussed a pending application to the Criminal Justice Training Commission to authorize a one‑tenth of 1 percent criminal-justice sales tax; staff said the package is expected to be submitted soon and, if approved, a board resolution would come forward before any tax implementation.