Elected officials report mid-term budget requests  for Thurston County

At a work session on Monday, Thurston County’s elected officials met with Thurston’s Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) to discuss budget matters. 

The office representatives who presented in the meeting were from the offices of the coroner, sheriff, district court, prosecuting attorney, clerk, auditor, treasurer, assessor, and commissioners. 

 Coroner’s Office 

Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock requested a new deputy requested an additional $225,000 for annual autopsy costs. 

Warnock also requested a full-time Chief Deputy Coroner position, amounting to $158,000.  

“I feel like I’m an overpaid secretary. I am buried in admin; I have no support. We do have a full-time office assistant, but that’s not enough support for me when I am in meetings, on vacation, or just out of the office period,” said Warnock. 

 Lead Deputy Coroner and Investigator Traci McCullah said the Thurston County Coroner’s Office (TCCO) acknowledges this is not a good time to ask for the position, but having one would be essential. 

 “Here are a few ways that a chief will benefit our county and the office. A chief is essential for our office to operate more efficiently and effectively. A chief will update our office policies and procedures and our mass fatality plan, both of which are years outdated,” McCullah said. 

 A chief will also participate in county meetings currently unattended by the office and process office accreditation, which is long overdue and required by law in 2025. 

 Once the TCCO is accredited, it can receive autopsy reimbursements at the highest value and continued revenue from morgue use fees by neighboring counties. 

 McCullah also read messages from people who thanked the TCCO and shared that the office’s investigators receive not only gratitude but also harsh words. 

 Warnock said TCCO only needed three approvals, but he asked for the five commissioners to support the proposition.  

 Sheriff’s Office 

Financial Services Chief Heidi Thomsen of Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) discussed some of the office’s requests. 

Most of the office’s funding requests are on contracts with tribes, cities, and grant applications.  

TCSO received an anonymous donation of $17,000, which is revenue recorded in the current year. The donation will be used to purchase a trailer to haul utility task vehicles. 

 Thomsen also shared the following requests from the office: 

 District Court 

District Court Executive Officer Frankie Peters said the District Court requests two Probation Counselors and two Probation Clerks from the General Fund. 

 Peters said that from 2022 to 2023, the office had reduced the workload for its supervised probation due to the overwhelming caseloads. 

 “At that time, were only able to supervise those cases that were third-time DUIs [driving under the influence] or domestic violence charges. In 2023 for last year’s biennium we have requested that we have two additional probation FTEs [Full Time Equivalent] added. Due to the county budget limitations, those requests were denied and [the] district court was also required to take a budget cut,” said Peters. 

 In January 2024, the district court was unable to provide any supervised probation, as it only had one staff member who was actively monitoring over 1800 cases, which is equivalent to a 400% workload.  

 Peters explained that the current workload is unsustainable as it is meant for four FTEs, not one staff. 

This scenario also impacts the non-compliance rate, which describes when an item is not in the court file by the date it was scheduled to be. 

 There has been a 75% increase in warrants with non-compliance, equivalent to 7,000 cases per year from the previous number of 4,000 annually. There has also been a 79% increase in non-compliance with a protection order.  

 “These have direct impacts not only on the courts but all of our justice partners,” said Peters. 

 Outside of the General Fund and aligned to the Treatment Sales Tax (TST), Peters also requested compensation adjustments for the Mental Health Court and veterans Court Manager and Care Coordinator positions. 

 Prosecuting Attorney’s Office 

Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim indicated that the office will lose some of its revenue as they propose moving state project Target Zero to another agency.  

The office plans to request funding from the Public Safety Sales Tax (PSST).  

 Clerk’s Office 

 Thurston County Clerk Linda Myhre Enlow requested a budget for two front counter positions reduced last year. 

 Enlow said the office has shut off their phones from receiving an “overwhelming” number of calls and emails with only two staff to handle it. 

 “These two staffs manage all of the incoming public requests be it filing new cases, documents, payments, [or] phone calls. As a result, I chose to shut off our phones because I do not have the staff to answer the phones but I gave the public an option to e-mail us,” said Enlow. 

 Auditor’s Office

Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall reported $130,000 more revenue than budgeted for 2024 and more passport revenue this year ($156,000 as of September) than all of 2023. 

Hall also requested a change to increase the office’s revenue in 2025 by $51,000. 

Since 2022, the office has added two staff members for $160,000, which has also increased the general fund by $383,000 since the addition of these positions in licensing and recording. 

 Treasurer’s Office 

 Thurston County Treasurer Jeff Gadman said the office’s budget is sufficient as determined last term.  

“At this point, I think I’m gonna be okay, but depending on the actions of other agencies, I may end up needing to come in for a budget amendment, but so far, fingers crossed, I have been able to avoid that,” said Gadman.  

 Gadman also said that their armored carrier service provider increased rates, which affected other offices such as public works, district court, and sheriff.  

The office is currently looking for another service but Gadman said there are few providers. 

 Assessor’s Office 

 Thurston County Assessor Steven J. Drew did not present any requests but reiterated the office’s prior request for three staff positions.  

 Commissioner’s Office 

 County Manager Leonard Hernandez said that the initial request of $458,000 to transfer FTE staff from Central Services to Commissioners will be withdrawn for further evaluation.