Thurston County Sheriff incentivized recruitment proves successful with 23 applicants and 5 new hires  

At a meeting on Monday, June 3, Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) representatives briefed the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) on the Recruitment Incentives Pilot Program outcomes for Washington State Certified Lateral Sheriff Deputies. 

TCSO offers a lateral incentive for qualified Lateral Deputy Sheriffs, which includes a $25,000 hiring bonus for a two-year contract, 40 hours of vacation leave & 40 hours of sick leave upon hiring, and a starting annual base salary up to $99,237, among other benefits. 

The board adopted the deputies’ recruitment incentives resolution and policy in January 2024 for six months and has since requested an update before the policy expires in July.  

TCSO Operations Lieutenant Cameron Simper told the board that since the initial incentive recruitment for the deputy positions, they had 23 state-certified laterals apply. 

“Of those 23, six of them didn't meet [the] minimum qualifications. Four of them made it a little bit farther in the process and they failed the oral board. We have two applicants still waiting to be scheduled for an oral board. Of those 23, we placed 11 on an eligibility list, and we hired five. Four self-removed and we still have two viable candidates on that list,” said Simper. 

TCSO also bargained the same incentivized recruitment for Criminal Justice Training Commission Certified Lateral Corrections Deputies. 

Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders emphasized that TCSO needs more corrections deputies for the rising number of arrests.  

“One of the big things that we're facing right now is that as things just get busier throughout the year and more arrests are being made… our jail population is going up right now,” Sanders said.  

From about 250, arrests rose to 300 over the weekend according to Sanders.  

“We just hired 2 corrections deputies today, they don't have any prior correction experience, so they're going to head over to the jail today and start getting their equipment all done, and then this week they'll hit Field Training Officer (FTO) and start their training,” said Sanders. 

Sanders also said that they will go to the academy at some point, and the $25,000 bonus is about what it costs for wages and overtime. Sanders added that hiring alateral saves time and cost neutral as it saves about $25,000.