Hatcher’s out and deputies are relieved. Here’s what next Benton County sheriff must do

Benton County Sheriff Jerry Hatcher will be replaced and the county will be better for it, but the work to boost transparency and morale in the office is just beginning.

Ousting an abusive sheriff is an important first step but improvements to the department can’t stop there.

An entire culture change is needed.

Hopefully that will come with healing, but the next leader — even if that person is there only on an interim basis — must be willing to make sweeping reforms if necessary.

Keeping the status quo under a new sheriff likely won’t be enough to regain public trust. Citizens will need to see progress and eventually hear from deputies that their working conditions are finally acceptable.

Department employees who have been working in fear under Hatcher must have felt a huge wave of relief when it became clear that Benton County voters overwhelmingly supported the recall this week.

Initial election results showed 75% of ballots were marked “yes” in favor of ousting the embattled sheriff, who was appointed to the post in 2017 and elected twice since then.

At first, Hatcher seemed like the best person for the job. But somewhere along the way he lost the admiration and respect of his deputies, and most feared retaliation if the recall effort failed.

He’d been called a “tyrant” with a dehumanizing management style when the deputies’ guild took a vote of no confidence in him shortly after his estranged wife accused him of choking her — a charge that was later dismissed. Hatcher, however, is still under investigation for allegedly forcing her to recant her statements of domestic abuse.

The election will be certified Aug. 17. Once that happens, County Auditor Brenda Chilton said the sheriff must vacate his office immediately.

Since Hatcher is a Republican, it will be up to the Benton County Republican Party to suggest three names to the Benton County Commission for consideration to fill the vacant spot.

Commissioners have up to 60 days to select someone, but must choose an interim sheriff from within the department to serve until that selection is made.

When that appointment is set, one of the first tasks should be to make sure the new internal tracking system for ammunition supplies actually works.

While complaints of Hatcher’s mercurial nature and mistreatment of deputies was a major concern, it was the stash of 13,000 rounds of ammunition found at Hatcher’s home that provided the legal hook for his recall.

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 ammo cache and guns.

To add to the concern, a report by the state auditor’s office last month criticized the Benton County sheriff’s department for its non-existent monitoring system of ammunition. The report said the system is so inadequate there is no way to determine if ammo ever goes missing.

And because there was no process in place, there was no way for auditors to determine if ammunition is safeguarded and used properly.

When the report was released, Hatcher disagreed because “you cannot have a finding when there is no stated rule, guideline or requirement that was identified or violated.”

But after the stash was found in his home, Hatcher implemented a new policy to track practice ammunition from the point of purchase through the point of issuance and assured auditors that an inventory will be performed annually.

However, the policy does not track how much ammunition is used by each deputy or require them to return any unused ammo in their possession at the end of the year.

This is just one glaring concern that needs to be addressed. There very well could be more.

Too many problems were hidden for too long. It will be imperative that Hatcher’s replacement set a new direction for the department and keep the public informed along the way.

This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 11:35 AM.