Judge sets ultimatum for Franklin County sheriff — comply or go to jail

The Franklin County sheriff has until Friday afternoon to hand over a fingerprint machine or go to jail.

Walla Walla County Judge Brandon Johnson appealed directly to Sheriff Jim Raymond Wednesday afternoon to follow a court order that requires the sheriff to turn over the equipment. Raymond has held out on handing the machine ever since the order was initially signed May 3.

“There are only so many tools in the court’s toolbox when it comes to compliance with court orders,” Johnson said in a Franklin County courtroom. “That’s all I want — is compliance with the court order.”

Johnson was called in to handle the case about a year ago when the Benton-Franklin county judges recused themselves because of conflict of interest issues.

Johnson’s decision is the latest in the fight over three items that the Franklin County commissioners want moved from the sheriff’s office to the county jail. They included some taser cartridges, a patrol car and a fingerprint machine.

Raymond, who said initially he wouldn’t follow the order, told the judge on May 27 that he had turned over the car and didn’t have the taser cartridges. But he said he couldn’t hand over a fingerprint scanner without the information being cleared.

The scanner ended up at the center of Wednesday’s two hours of arguments between Rebecca Boatright, Raymond’s attorney, and Megan Clark, the county’s attorney.

Boatright argued that state and federal law stopped Raymond from handing over the scanner without it being cleared of information first. And that without that step, Raymond would violate the contract that allowed him to buy the scanner.

But Clark shot back that Raymond’s reasons continue to shift every time they appear in court. She said there is no evidence that Raymond would face any penalties if he handed over the equipment.

Johnson weighed in that this continues to be a policy issue. The commissioners are allowed to make bad decisions that impacted the county law enforcement as long as they were done following the law, he said.

He set a Friday deadline to allow the scanner to be transferred or the sheriff will need to report to the Franklin County jail.

Either way, Johnson said, he won’t need to pay the thousands of dollars in fines that he was facing.

He also pointed out that Raymond is appealing Johnson’s order to the Washington State Court of Appeals. He noted that he could be overturned, but until that point, Raymond needs to follow his court order.

Fight over the jail

The dispute stems from a decision last year, when the county commissioners removed the jail from the sheriff’s department and created a new corrections department.

When the county took over jail operations, Sheriff Raymond initially took 30 guns from the jail that were licensed under his office. He later returned them.

Six other guns are still in the sheriff’s office. The county also took over issuing security cards to employees, and demanded that a patrol car and one of the two fingerprint machines at the sheriff’s office be returned.

Raymond, who is retiring at the end of the year, has argued he can’t turn taser cartridges and guns to the corrections officers because they aren’t allowed to have them.

Officials also said then that the newer fingerprint machine has features that are needed for daily use in the office.

However, Johnson ruled in February that the county owns the property, so the commissioners can decide what to do with it.

He also noted he can’t weigh in on whether it’s a good or bad idea for the commissioners to remove the equipment. He can only say whether the resolution passed by the commissioners was legal.