Judge extends order to keep sheriff away from his wife and guns

A court order telling Sheriff Jerry Hatcher to stay 1,000 feet away from his estranged wife has been extended three months.

That means Benton County’s elected sheriff also cannot possess any guns until at least mid-January while the temporary protection order is in place.

Monica Hatcher and Jerry Hatcher sat on separate sides of the courtroom Tuesday for a 20-minute hearing in their divorce case.

His wife filed to end their eight-year marriage on Sept. 18, then followed that up two weeks later with a petition for protection.

Since then, Jerry Hatcher has been charged in Benton County Superior Court with felony witness tampering and fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor. Both charges include allegations of domestic violence since they involve his wife.

He was told to surrender all guns, other dangerous weapons and concealed weapons permits when the protection order was granted Oct. 4 by Judge Cameron Mitchell.

On Tuesday, lawyer Mason Pickett said his client turned over all of his guns to Kennewick police. He said Hatcher even made “a special trip to Montana to retrieve all of them.”

However, lawyers Pat Chvatal said Monica Hatcher told her there are seven more guns owned by Jerry Hatcher that are inside their family home.

Jerry Hatcher has moved out and is living in another home in Kennewick.

After the hearing, the two attorneys made arrangements to get those guns to Jerry Hatcher so they also can be turned in.

The divorce case has been assigned to Judge Doug Federspiel of Yakima County because of a conflict with the Benton County judges, given Hatcher’s position in the county.

Federspiel also may handle Hatcher’s criminal case.

His first hearing in that matter is scheduled Oct. 23. That appearance will include the formality of being booked into the jail followed by his release, unless the judge orders bail.

Criminal and family court

Hatcher, 56, has been the sheriff since he was first appointed in May 2017.

He is taking some time away from work while dealing with the criminal and family court cases, but his lawyer has said he’s not stepping down.

The four unions representing Benton County Sheriff’s Office employees have called for Hatcher’s resignation.

Hatcher has said he’s been falsely accused by his wife and will fight the “inflammatory and damaging” allegations.

Tuesday’s hearing was to address Monica Hatcher’s request for a permanent protection order.

But, at the start of the hearing, Chvatal and Pickett said they worked together to reach an agreement on a temporary basis.

Pickett asked to extend the temporary order to Jan. 14, saying he and Jerry Hatcher’s criminal lawyer, Scott Johnson, expect to “run into some resistance” as the legal team investigates Monica Hatcher’s allegations.

“I know that is typically longer than a temporary order for protection gets extended, but given the public nature of this and political undertones, we expect substantial blowback when it comes to conducting discovery,” said Pickett.

“This will allow for Mrs. Hatcher to be protected until we have a hearing, and give us the time necessary to conduct discovery in the appropriate fashion outside the courtroom, rather than basically doing discovery in the middle of an evidentiary hearing.”

The Hatchers deserve some respect for their privacy while dealing with this, Pickett added.

Chvatal made it clear they were in court strictly on the divorce action.

“Both Mr. Pickett and I, on behalf of our clients, want to retain their dignity in the divorce action and keep it somewhat separate from anything else that may be going on,” she said. “We believe that this may be the best way to make sure that our clients are protected.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2019 at 12:49 PM.