‘Absolute honor.’ 45 years of law enforcement to end for Franklin sheriff

Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond announced Friday evening that he will retire from a 45-year law enforcement career at the end of the year.

He said when he ran for his third term as sheriff in 2022 with the backing of his office staff, his deputies and his command staff, that it would be his final run for office.

He came to the Tri-Cities from Deer Park, Wash., in 1978 at the age of 18 to attend Columbia Basin College and pursue a college football career.

He was 21 when he joined the Pasco Police Department as a patrol officer, eventually rising to the rank of captain and occasionally serving as the interim police chief.

“Those decades of experience in nearly every aspect of the profession enabled me to achieve my long-term goal — being elected sheriff of Franklin County,” he said in his retirement announcement.

He was elected sheriff in 2014, defeating longtime sheriff Richard Lathim.

He was elected to bring reform to the sheriff’s office and jail, and he and his team succeeded, he said.

“I take immense pride in the training platforms we developed, our modernization efforts and community policing initiatives that leveraged technology to enhance safety for both our deputies and the public,” he said.

Twenty-first century policing models were implemented, he said, resulting in the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and becoming a dual-accredited agency, a distinction held by both the jail and the sheriff’s office.

In recent years he was caught up in the contention among Franklin County elected officials, with the Franklin County commissioners stripping control of the jail from him in a surprise move.

But he and his deputies continued to make arrests in difficult cases.

They included an arrest in July 2025 in the slaying of 13-year-old Anna Pelayo, who was found shot along Taylor Flats Road near Pasco in 1997.

Her former boyfriend, Jesse L. Castillo, who was 23 when Pelayo died, is accused of second-degree murder.

Sheriff makes endorsement

As Raymond prepares to leave office in nine months, he’s made his pick for the person who he thinks should replace him, Undersheriff Monty Huber.

“Having worked closely with him for over a decade, I have seen firsthand his commitment to modernizing this office and his unwavering dedication to the safety of our residents,” Raymond said.

Serving as sheriff has been “an absolute honor,” Raymond said in his retirement announcement.

But his favorite law enforcement job was working as a uniformed sergeant on the streets of Pasco, he said.

“Leading a dedicated team of officers taught me the true meaning of community policing,” he said. “It showed that there are far more good people in the world than bad, and that honest communication is the key to successful public service.”

This story was originally published April 4, 2026 at 6:15 AM.