Benton commissioners vow to support sheriff’s employees, 1 week after ‘no confidence’ vote

The Benton County commissioners say they stand behind sheriff’s office employees, nine days after union representatives announced a “no confidence” vote in Sheriff Jerry Hatcher.

“I would like to do a letter of support for the sheriff’s department employees,” Commissioner Jerome Delvin said this week’s regular board meeting.

His colleagues, Chairman Jim Beaver and Shon Small, were in agreement. They said that covered everyone from command staff and detectives down to deputies.

The commissioners did not go into further details, but asked a staff member to draft a letter for their approval.

On Feb. 2, the Benton County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild said their boss, Hatcher, had lost the support of an overwhelming number of its members.

The guild includes deputies, corporals, sergeants and lieutenants. The only other employees directly under Hatcher that are not covered by the guild are three commanders, one appointed lieutenant and office staff.

Union representatives issued a scathing letter saying they feared retaliation by taking this action but were left with no choice. They compared Hatcher to a tyrant who only cares about his personal image, and said deputies and supervisors are frustrated and saddened by the sheriff’s lack of leadership and professionalism.

Hatcher told the Tri-City Herald he was disappointed by the accusations, believed it was “a small nucleus of people” complaining in his office and said as sheriff “you get blamed for everything.”

Embattled sheriff

The guild vote came three months after Benton County commissioners voted 2-1 to take the jail away from Hatcher, and four months since his estranged wife accused Hatcher of strangling her when she confronted him about an affair.

Hatcher was briefly charged in October in Benton County Superior Court with felony witness tampering and fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor. Both charges involved his wife.

The case was dismissed when prosecutors said Washington State Patrol detectives needed more time to investigate before moving forward.

The guild, in its letter, is calling for an independent internal investigation into those criminal allegations. Representatives say Hatcher should hold himself to the same standard of accountability as he would a deputy.

Before Hatcher’s agency was split up with the commissioners’ Oct. 23 jail takeover, the four unions representing sheriff’s office employees called for their embattled leader to resign.

Those employees included clerical staff; corrections officers, corporals, sergeants and lieutenants; and patrol deputies, corporals, sergeants and lieutenants.

Then last week, Teamsters Local 839 — representing corrections officers and clerical workers — released a statement supporting the Deputy Sheriff’s Guild’s “no confidence” note and saying it’s time for working conditions in that office to be addressed.

This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Benton commissioners vow to support sheriff’s employees, 1 week after ‘no confidence’ vote."