Herald Editorial Board recommends ‘yes’ vote to recall Benton County Sheriff Jerry Hatcher

Turmoil, fear and anxiety have cast a sickening cloud over the Benton County sheriff’s department for too long, and the only way the atmosphere will improve is if the office is no longer run by Jerry Hatcher.

Citizens should vote to recall the embattled sheriff in the upcoming Aug. 3 election. It’s the only way the county will be able to heal.

If the recall fails and Hatcher remains, the public already has seen numerous examples of how the sheriff handles opposition. It is highly doubtful he will work to repair the damage that has been done.

Instead, his staff is sure Hatcher will retaliate against them, which is in itself an indication of the unhealthy environment that Benton County deputies have had to endure under Hatcher’s leadership.

Law enforcement officers have enough stress working with crime and trauma every day out in the field. They shouldn’t also have to worry about being targeted by their boss.

And that’s a huge concern among Benton County deputies, according to Kathlen Wierschke, president of the Committee to Recall Sheriff Jerry Hatcher.

Wierschke and Alan Harvey, an attorney representing the Benton County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild, met recently with the Tri-City Herald Editorial Board to discuss the recall effort.

Hatcher declined our invitation, so we were unable to talk with him directly.

However, we did reach out to his supporters.

Randy Mendenhall, president of Heritage Professional Landscaping in Kennewick, is a longtime friend of Hatcher’s and believes the complaints against him are politically motivated. He said the county commissioners “smelled blood in the water” and took the jail away from the sheriff’s control while Hatcher’s reputation was being tarnished.

Rebecca Ulbricht of Kennewick created a Support Your Local Sheriff Facebook page and believes that there is not enough evidence to prove any of the charges against Hatcher.

She also said she didn’t know Hatcher, but reached out to him to find out his side, and she hasn’t seen “that part of him” that others call abusive.

We imagine she hasn’t.

In 2017, the Herald recommended Hatcher for the sheriff’s job, noting he was the pick of many law enforcement leaders in the Tri-Cities.

But the situation is different now.

Contrary to those who think Hatcher is being purposely maligned by people out to get him, he has brought these problems on himself.

Public perception changed when his estranged wife accused him of attempting to strangle and threaten her. The assault charge against Hatcher was dismissed, but he is currently under a criminal investigation for allegedly forcing her to recant her statements of domestic abuse.

Shortly after the original story broke, four employee unions with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office urged Hatcher to resign. And four months after that, the deputies’ guild took a vote of “no confidence” in Hatcher, called him a “tyrant” and blasted him for his “dehumanizing” management methods.

Then, not long after the Guild vote, over 13,000 rounds of ammunition worth about $3,000 belonging to Benton County were found at Hatcher’s home.

Personally keeping this shocking amount of county-owned ammunition is the legal hook needed to remove Hatcher from office. The Washington state Supreme Court ruled that the recall effort against Hatcher can move forward on all eight charges of intimidation and misleading behavior regarding the cache and guns.

But the legal focus of county property found at Hatcher’s home is just a piece of this sad situation. Hatcher has lost the respect of nearly all his deputies.

This is not a case of just a small trouble-making group of employees. While it’s true seven deputies are threatening to sue Benton County for failing to protect them from Hatcher, guild employees were nearly unanimous in backing the recall.

Wierschke said it isn’t about the money — it’s about accountability.

And as it happens, Hatcher also has filed a $4 million claim against Benton County for failing to support him.

This whole drama is an expensive mess. We encouraged Hatcher several times last year to resign, leave office with dignity and save the community the ordeal.

But Hatcher chose instead to lash out and intimidate.

Voters may wonder why Hatcher has yet to be criminally investigated for stockpiling ammo. Well, thanks to a quirk in the law, only the sheriff can authorize an investigation into himself. Harvey said so far Hatcher hasn’t allowed it.

Hatcher maintains the union is trying to take over the sheriff’s office management, and he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has insisted he will be exonerated of any criminal allegations.

But the stories of his abusive management style are too troubling to ignore.

For the sake of the our Benton County deputies and other sheriff’s employees, the Herald recommends a “yes” vote to recall Sheriff Jerry Hatcher.

This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 1:31 AM.