Tri-Cities judges say they can’t rule on Franklin Courthouse fight over guns, security

Tri-Cities judges won’t rule on an emergency injunction in the fight over handing over control of the Franklin County jail.

Benton Franklin Superior Court judges recused themselves on Thursday from hearing the injunction request from the Franklin County commissioners.

They were expected to ask judges to force Sheriff Jim Raymond to hand over the weapons used by jailers and courthouse security, after a sudden Wednesday vote to take the jail and court security away from the sheriff’s department.

A recent state audit that included some jail contract issues seems to have been the tipping point. While the audit was critical of both the jail and county staff, it ultimately placed responsibility on the county citing lack of financial policies and controls and contract oversight.

Raymond told commissioners Wednesday that he believed their decision was negligent, but would comply with the change. There was one big exception, though, Raymond said he is ultimately responsible for the conduct of armed corrections staff, with their authority to carry weapons commissioned by his office.

Raymond said he was not prepared to hand the weapons over to members of a newly created Franklin County Corrections Department because they had no plan in place for the transfer of weapons or commissions from the state to allow those employees to carry guns and make arrests.

He also noted that in 2012 local Superior Court judges spelled out the security requirements and a judge, rather than the commissioners, would need to make any changes.

Part of the Superior Court’s budget is controlled by Franklin County and the sheriff oversaw their security, likely creating a conflict of interest. But the judges didn’t explain their reasons for recusing themselves.

The Superior Court judges will find an outside judge to rule on the injunction, according to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office.

The county commissioners also reconvened Thursday from a 24-hour recess of Wednesday’s meeting to add four items to their agenda.

They voted immediately Thursday to begin contract negotiations with jail Commander Kielen Harmon to continue running the jail under the new corrections department, as well as a contract with Jeremy Jansky to remain in the jail’s command staff and serve as captain.

They also approved a contract with Tri-Cities Monitoring.

Though commissioners didn’t discuss that contract, the prosecutor’s office said the private firm will run the courthouse complex’s guard house, which screens everyone entering the property.

The fourth item was related to the duties of the county commission’s clerk. It’s unclear if it was related to the jail changes.

Courthouse security changes

As of 1 p.m. Thursday, Franklin County Sheriff staff continued to provide security at the courthouse, but they had turned their guns back over to the sheriff’s office.

A news release sent from Raymond about 11 a.m. said he still had not received signed copies of the resolutions with instructions on how his office was expected to proceed with the takeover of jail operations and security.

He also raised concerns about the administration of jail databases that are currently managed by his employees in the sheriff’s office.

The Franklin County jail employs about 50, including jailers and administrative staff. They manage a daily average of about 200 inmates.

The jail has a budget of about $10 million for 2025.

The decision to take the jail away from Raymond came as a shock to most, including the sheriff and his staff.

Commissioners said they’ve been thinking about this for a while, but jail oversight has not appeared on any county commission agendas before this week’s meeting.

The commissioners approve and renew contracts. The sheriff cannot enter into the agreements without their stamp of approval.

While the sheriff has authority over law enforcement in the county, the commission controls his budget.

Pushback from jailers

The commissioners heard from a number of current and former jailers during Wednesday’s contentious meeting.

Those who spoke questioned whether the county had done enough to prepare for such a drastic change, pointing to how difficult even amicable jail takeovers in neighboring counties have been.

Others asked when the discussion about jail oversight took place, as the first discussion they had heard was at that meeting.

There was little discussion from the commissioners Wednesday, with the vote coming just 15 minutes into the regular meeting.

Chairman Clint Didier briefly recessed the meeting during a public comment period as he clashed with Raymond, who was attempting to talk about the weapons handover.

Benton County took its jail from former Sheriff Jerry Hatcher in 2019. Other neighboring counties have taken over their jails in recent years, but the process has begun with discussion weeks or even months before, according to reports on the changes.

County contract oversight issues

The resolution to take the jail pointed directly to a recent state audit, claiming “a state accountability audit report by the State Auditor’s Office has caused great concern over the contract management and overall operation of the Franklin County jail by the Office of the Sheriff.”

The Washington state auditor’s office reviewed a jail commissary contract, jail medical contract and HAPO Center finances from different years.

In all three instances, auditors wrote that the county failed to properly oversee its contracts, and lacked proper financial control.

The audits are clear that it is the responsibility of the county administrator to ensure contracts are managed properly. They pointed to staff turmoil as one reason this oversight did not meet standards.

The county hired a new administrator, Brian Dansel, last week after nine months using an interim county leader.

Its previous administrator, Mike Gonzalez, left after being named as a whistleblower in a criminal investigation of several elected officials, including two county commissioners. No one ended up being charged with a crime.

Gonzalez was in the role for a little more than a year, after replacing an administrator who the commissioners tried to fire with no warning. That administrator eventually resigned.

In the case of the jail commissary contract, after moving into the role last year Harmon found that an automatic profit sharing payment since 2018 had stopped sending quarterly disbursements.

That error was not a surprise during the audit report, as the resumption of payments added $1 million to the courthouse’s coffers last fall as they were discussing the county’s 2025 budget shortfalls. Issues with increasing healthcare costs at the jail have also been discussed.

The auditors wrote that the county lacked proper financial policies and contract oversight.

This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 3:20 PM.

Cory McCoy

Tri-City Herald

Cory is an award-winning investigative reporter. He joined the Tri-City Herald in Dec. 2021 as an Editor/Reporter covering social accountability issues. His past work can be found in the Tyler Morning Telegraph and other Texas newspapers. He was a 2019-20 Education Writers Association Fellow, and has been featured on The Murder Tapes, Grave Mysteries and Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen.