Deputy unions push back after Wash. sheriff reclaims jail weapons against court order

By Cory McCoy
Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.)

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Wash. —The head of the Franklin County jail said Sheriff Jim Raymond blocked his entry into the jail, demanded his gun and then put his hands on the commander in the latest escalation over the fight for control of the jail.

Raymond also allegedly threatened to arrest any corrections officers who refused to hand over their weapons, according to court documents obtained by the Tri-City Herald .

Now the county is asking for a judge to hold Raymond in contempt of a restraining order issued last week, accusing him of ignoring the court order and disarming the jail.

On Friday, District Court Judge Jennifer Azure ordered Raymond to stop trying to take the 50 firearms and other equipment from the jail and to return any equipment he had already seized.

It was an initial ruling until a Walla Walla Superior Court judge can hold a hearing on the issue in early May.

Raymond said at a Monday news conference he doesn’t believe the order was valid because she was appointed to act as a Benton Franklin Superior Court judge pro tem, which he did not agree to. Washington law does not require parties to agree to a judge pro tem.

Keilan Harmon , the new interim director of the Franklin County Corrections Department , detailed in new court filing how Raymond disarmed the jail staff Monday morning.

Harmon was the jail’s commander under the sheriff before the county took it over in a sudden vote last week. He was offered, and accepted, the position of interim director. He’ll be officially appointed as the director at the board of commissioner’s Wednesday meeting, according to agendas posted online.

Harmon told commissioners last week he would accept the position because he loved his employees and didn’t want to see them with anyone else. That’s now placed him at odds with his former boss.

Disarming the jail

Raymond disarmed the jail Monday morning, following a previous attempt over the weekend to send patrol deputies to the jail to collect the weapons.

The patrol deputies refused that order, and their union filed for a restraining order Monday, asking a court to stop Raymond from demanding they violate court orders.

Raymond called their refusal to take the guns “mutiny” in an email exchange obtained by the Herald that he had with the attorney for the unions.

Harmon wrote that on Monday that Raymond was waiting for him with a group of patrol deputies as he arrived at the jail just before 7 a.m. , according to court documents.

As Harmon arrived, Raymond told him they “were going to have a conversation in his office” and that Harmon was to turn in his firearm.

Harmon wrote that he refused, but then the sheriff stopped him from entering the building until he agreed to hand over the gun and go talk with Raymond, according to the documents.

Once in the sheriff’s office, Raymond told Harmon that he was still an employee of the sheriff’s office and he needed to follow his orders.

Harmon said Raymond also said multiple times that he was going to take control of the jail and was removing all of the guns.

He said he told Raymond that the court order barred him from taking the weapons, but the sheriff said he was going to do it, regardless of a court order.

That’s when things got physical, according to Harmon.

“The sheriff then physically pulled me out of his office by grabbing my jacket collar by the neck and front lapels,” Harmon wrote. “After pulling me out his office, the sheriff and I proceeded to walk down to into the jail to the gun storage locker.”

Raymond described the locker as a closet during a news conference Monday.

Harmon wrote that he again told the sheriff the court order said he cannot take the guns, but Raymond made him unlock the storage locker and took them to be stored in the armory in the adjoining sheriff’s department.

Contempt hearing

Chief Civil Deputy Jeffrey Briggs filed a motion Monday asking a judge to hold Raymond in contempt for violating the restraining order after “Sheriff Jim Raymond … stormed the Franklin County jail and seized weapons within the jail.”

Briggs said that Raymond wrote in an email to Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant that he would arrest any corrections deputy who refuses to hand over their weapons. The guns and tasers are used by corrections officers when transporting inmates to court, for medical care or to prison.

“(T)he next time your deputy refuses to hand over law enforcement weapons registered federally in the name of the Franklin County Sheriff, there will be consequences. Let me clarify: he will be arrested and released immediately after being served a citation to appear in court,” Raymond wrote.

Briggs said in the filings that Raymond also refused to take documents from process servers, and refused to allow Yakima County Prosecutor Joseph Brusic to represent him.

Raymond is insisting on using another attorney he has worked with previously, but that attorney has a conflict and cannot take the case, according to the court documents.

Process servers caught Raymond before the news conference Monday and served him with the restraining order, which he had previously posted a copy of on social media. Raymond said the service was improper because they were not sheriff’s office employees, according to the court documents.

Briggs told the Herald in an email Tuesday morning that they were awaiting a determination from the court on the motion to hold Raymond in contempt.

Raymond has questioned whether the new Franklin County Department of Corrections has the legal authority to allow corrections officers to carry weapons, including guns. They previously could be armed because he issued their commissions.

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