County wants Franklin sheriff fined up to $2K a day for refusing order

The Franklin County sheriff could face up to $2,000 a day in fines if he doesn’t turn over several pieces of equipment to county officials.

A visiting Walla Walla County Superior Court judge is expected to hear arguments Thursday on whether Sheriff Jim Raymond should be held in contempt of a previous court order for not surrendering a fingerprint scanner, police car, taser cartridges and six guns.

Raymond missed a Monday deadline to give the items to jail officials.

On Tuesday, Megan Clark, the attorney representing the county, argued in a 10-page written motion that the sheriff should be fined starting at $1,000 per day and going up to $2,000 a day after five days if he doesn’t comply.

But Raymond’s attorneys, Bob Christie and Rebecca Boatright, are asking for a delay in enforcing the order while the Washington State Court of Appeals reviews the legality of the ruling by Walla Walla Judge Brandon Johnson.

The dueling paperwork filed on Tuesday is the latest turn in what has been a yearlong struggle over whether the county can take equipment from the sheriff’s office that they say is needed in the jail.

County commissioners took the jail away from the sheriff’s control in April 2025, and they’ve been fighting ever since.

Raymond argues the equipment is necessary for deputies and came out of his budget, and he has made repeated claims that he will not comply with the order.

Clark said Raymond should have to pay the fine personally, rather than the county.

She claims Raymond has routinely “expressed and demonstrated intentional disregard” for orders that he doesn’t agree with.

“This is not a new position — the sheriff has continually stated he is free to ‘ignore’ court orders, he will disregard the orders he personally disagrees with and claim, unilaterally, are ‘unlawful,’” Clark said.

Tuesday’s motion came after a 2 1/2-hour media event Monday when Raymond announced to a crowd of reporters and members of the public that he did not intend to comply with the court order.

Boatright argued on behalf of the sheriff that the county didn’t follow proper procedures when separating the jail, and that he can’t legally hand over the guns to the jail.

Franklin gun dispute

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

Six other guns remained at 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 said he needs to maintain control over the security cards to protect the security at the courthouse.

Officials said the newer fingerprint machine has features that are needed for daily use in the office and that a detective is already driving the patrol car.

The sheriff’s office still has access to the security logs for people coming and going from the courthouse.

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

He also noted the court system can’t weigh in on whether it’s a good or bad idea for the commissioners to remove the equipment.

Johnson signed the order on May 13, starting the five-day time period to turn over the items.

Clark argued that Raymond’s attorney never asked Johnson to reconsider.

“Instead, Sheriff Raymond has made statements to various media outlets and on Facebook that he intends to ignore the court orders,” she wrote.

Raymond maintained that position through Tuesday.