Thurston County honored by National Association of Counties

Thurston County announced it received 30 achievement awards for innovative county government initiatives from the National Association of Counties (NACo).

NACo, an independent organization, evaluates local government innovation and public service excellence across 18 categories for the award. 

The county's major wins were from the Public Health & Social Services (PHSS) Department, which received 10 awards, and the Auditor’s Office, which earned five awards.  

PHSS was recognized for providing immediate health and safety benefits, including real-time tracking of local spikes in respiratory illness to help provide faster alerts, youth vaping prevention, supportive lactation services, and a gun lock-up safety campaign that provides free locks to the public. 

The Auditor’s Office was recognized for safeguarding ballot integrity and providing frontline access to the voting process for the county’s more than 200,000 registered voters.  

Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall said in a statement that the win represents the county’s commitment to public service and democracy. 

“From translating passport form instruction, to creating a secure public observation corridor at our ballot processing center, to pioneering integrated election security, we are delivering the kind of radical transparency and absolute integrity the public deserves. This recognition belongs entirely to a dedicated team of professionals, who show up every day to build public trust,” Hall said.

The county was also recognized for health programs, infrastructure upgrades and improvements to roads and public safety.  

“As our state and county face challenging budget realities, this (board) has been clear about prioritizing people and maintaining mandatory public services,” said Thurston County Board of County Commissioner Chair Tye Menser in a statement.

The county’s awards are available at the NACo website.