Benton County gets a new sheriff, 2 months after his former boss was ousted

A former sheriff’s supervisor who left the department a year ago over “horrible working conditions” created by his embattled boss is the new Benton County sheriff.

Tom Croskrey was in charge temporarily of the agency’s daily operations in the fall of 2019 when then-Sheriff Jerry Hatcher took a two-week leave of absence after domestic violence and witness tampering allegations surfaced in his divorce case.

On Tuesday, Croskrey was appointed to serve as sheriff in a unanimous vote of the Benton County commissioners.

The other two candidates were sheriff’s Commander Jon Law, who has been serving as acting sheriff for the past 1 1/2 months, and retired Capt. John Hodge.

Commissioners asked the same six questions of each candidate, who then were given time to make a closing statement as to why they should be the top choice.

Croskrey said his top three priorities to make positive change as sheriff are to: be a leader that has ethics and “is not going to do bad things, detrimental things”; fill the current 13 open positions; and restructure the department while maintaining accountability.

“They’re in crisis or some type of a crisis after being led by the previous sheriff,” said Croskrey, “and I believe I have the leadership abilities and skill set to lead them out of that situation and bring them to the next level of law enforcement.”

The formal appointment comes exactly two months after Hatcher was recalled with 74% of the vote.

He had been the sheriff for four years, but faced the recall effort when an employee brought charges against Hatcher of intimidating witnesses and public servants in investigations, retaliating against them, tampering with physical evidence and violating his oath of office.

Hatcher was the first government official in Benton County — and the first elected sheriff in Washington state — to lose office in a recall election.

His replacement had to be vetted by the Benton County Republican Party because Hatcher was a Republican.

Croskrey will serve out Hatcher’s unexpired term through 2022. Then, if he wants to remain sheriff, he will have to be elected by the voters.

His first day as sheriff is Monday, Oct. 4.

Law enforcement endorsements

Croskrey said in applying to the local Republican Party for the appointment, he received the endorsement of both the Benton County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild and the Washington State Fraternal Order of Police.

He said the endorsement letters noted that what distinguishes him as top candidate is the time he filled in while Hatcher was out of the office.

“In those few weeks, that short time, I was able to — what they wrote in their letter — bring them some light and to assure them that we’re going to make it through this troubling time,” he told the commissioners. “They said, ‘We didn’t know if it could get any worse, Tom Croskrey stepped up to the plate and led us through these difficult times.”

Croskrey said he did that by talking one-on-one with employees, refraining from sending out “blanket emails,” and just offering some hope that they would get through it.

Croskrey was a commander and considered to be Hatcher’s right-hand man in the office before he quit.

He said Hatcher’s “horrible leadership and fraud” and “anger and hostility” had affected his personal health and well-being greatly.

Croskrey didn’t have enough vacation time or sick days to cover a break. So, on June 2, 2020, he submitted a “hostile work environment” complaint to the county’s human resources manager and left. He’s worked in law enforcement in the Tri-Cities for 28 years.

“Working for Jerry has broken me,” Croskrey ended his three-page complaint. “I am done.”

3rd time with county

He first worked for Benton County as a patrol deputy from 1992 to 2004, when he moved to the Richland Police Department. He retired from Richland in February 2019 as a lieutenant.

Hatcher then hired Croskrey in March 2019 as commander of the Benton County jail.

When the county commissioners took control of the jail away from the sheriff in October 2019, Hatcher asked Croskrey to stay on as commander and moved him over to the patrol side in the sheriff’s office.

Croskrey was in charge of the civil division and clerical staff, but also had been assigned to check operations across all areas of the department as part of the sheriff’s push to get accredited.

At one point, Croskrey had asked to be promoted to undersheriff so he could take care of the department’s morale issues.

Hatcher refused the request, reportedly saying Croskrey missed seeing the conspiracy against the sheriff and thus was not deserving of the new title and promotion.

Before quitting, Croskrey had feared that Hatcher was going to go after Croskrey’s son, who is a Benton sheriff’s patrol deputy, by calling into question his credibility, honest and integrity.

Croskrey was one of seven current and former employees of the sheriff’s office who filed claims against the county in June for failing to protect them against Hatcher’s intimidation and retaliation tactics.

The county did not respond to the claims, which totaled $22 million. And no lawsuit has been filed.

‘Bringing integrity back’

On Tuesday, Croskrey said he wants to serve as a positive role model for the entire department.

“When I talk about the department as a priority, it’s not just repairing the department and getting them moving in the correct direction,” he said. “The ultimate goal is public safety and, through taking care of the department, the byproduct of that will be taking care of the community.”

“If we have a dysfunctional department, they’re not going to serve the community as well as they could,” he added. “The No. 1 priority is bringing integrity back to the office, the byproduct of which is the trust of the community.”

Chairman Jerome Delvin reminded those attending the session that Hatcher was appointed by the commission in 2017 after a medical retirement. Delvin voted for Hatcher then.

“That’s one, and only maybe two mistakes I’ve ever made in life is to vote for that guy,” he said. “We quickly learned what a narcissist he was.”

Commissioner Will McKay made the motion to appoint Croskrey after the board went behind closed doors to discuss all three candidates qualifications.

He said he’s “super excited” for the new leadership and looks forward to seeing the department be “top-notch caliber.”

Commissioner Shon Small thanked Croskrey, Law and Hodge for seeking the post. They were three of seven who applied for the appointment.

“Needless to say this is a very difficult situation, and I say that in regards of it’s an unfortunate decision that we actually had to come to where we are at today,” said Small.

“I want everyone to know that the Benton County Sheriff’s Office is an amazing department,” he added, pointing out that he worked in the office for nearly 25 years. “There are a lot of individuals there that are just class act.”

Small said he hopes Croskrey and Law bring the office “up to the par that it used to be at.”

This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 3:46 PM.