Benton sheriff supporters file WA campaign finance complaints against recall group

The group backing the effort to recall Benton County Sheriff Jerry Hatcher is accused of accepting campaign contributions above the $1,000 limit.

The recall of a county elected official is considered a campaign, and the groups that raise money to either support or oppose the action are political committees.

Several formal complaints were filed in March by his supporters.

And Thursday, the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) plans to review the claims and a possible agreement reached with the “Committee to Recall Sheriff Jerry Hatcher.”

A vote is planned Aug. 3 on whether Hatcher should be removed from office.

Thursday’s enforcement hearing will be followed by a separate discussion on the recall committee’s request to accept over-limit contributions moving forward.

The PDC previously has waived donation limits when it has found a committee supports a recall because the sitting elected official is unfit to serve, and not because the group is trying to get someone else into the position.

The state commission — which regulates candidates, campaigns and lobbyists — has the power to issue fines and other enforcement action for violations.

It first must take up the issue of the committee’s alleged violations that occurred in the past, before deciding whether to grant the committee’s request to be exempt from recall contribution limits.

Complaints on both sides

Both sides in the contentious recall effort have been making sure the other is toeing the line, with committee organizer Kathlen Wierschke filing a PDC complaint in January against the “Retain Sheriff Hatcher” committee.

Wierschke alleged that the sheriff’s supporters failed to timely register their own committee and failed “to timely and accurately disclose contributions and expenditures.”

The PDC decided that since the recall had not yet been set for an election “the public has not been deprived of important information at a critical juncture,” it did not amount to a finding of a violation that called for further investigation.

However, the state commission did issue a formal written warning with the expectation the retain Hatcher group would follow all laws in the future.

Hatcher has been Benton County’s top law enforcement officer since May 2017 after his boss retired early for health reasons. He since has won election twice.

Last summer, sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Erickson filed a recall petition accusing the sheriff of intimidating witnesses and public servants in investigations, retaliating against them, and tampering with and destruction of physical evidence.

Erickson is supported by a vast majority of the Benton County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild, along with the Washington State Fraternal Order of Police. Both organizations have called for the sheriff to step down.

Erickson’s recall petition was certified earlier this month by county Auditor Brenda Chilton after her staff verified 13,937 signatures of registered voters, the necessary number to call for an election.

Hatcher has denied the allegations and said he is being falsely accused and “attacked relentlessly for resisting organized labor’s attempt to take over and control (the) sheriff’s office.”

The sheriff previously told the Tri-City Herald that he totally supports and accepts the will of the people, but does “not accept the pretense from this recall group that it is for accountability.”

The three identical complaints filed in March by Hatcher’s supporters say the recall group received three separate contributions over the allowable limit:

▪ The Benton County Deputy Sheriff’S Guild made a $5,000 cash donation in November.

▪ Bryan Pratt had a $3,500 in-kind donation in January that was the estimated value of his pro bono work to record videos.

▪ Wierschke, president of the recall committee recall, gave $2,347 last August, including a $2,200 cash donation. Her contributions were reported more than two months late because the group’s then-treasurer had failed to file donations with the PDC.

The enforcement hearing on the complaints is scheduled for 10:20 a.m., with the recall committee’s petition for declaratory order being considered at 10:45 a.m.

The meeting will be streamed live on the PDC’s YouTube channel. Commission members and staff will be joining remotely.

This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 5:00 AM.