FILE - The Clark County Justice Center on Oct. 22, 2025. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office ranked lowest in the state for law enforcement employees per capita in 2024, according to the most recent available data.
Erik Neumann / OPB
Clark County is preparing to hire 22 new sheriff’s deputies over the next six years and to fill a host of other public safety-related positions.
A small increase in the county’s local sales tax is funding these jobs at one of the lowest-staffed sheriff’s offices in Washington state.
Clark County’s five councilors unanimously voted to fund the new law enforcement positions at a meeting last week.
The council has been discussing the sheriff’s office funding request since July. It was possible after state lawmakers voted last year to allow cities and counties to institute an optional 0.1% sales and use tax increase to pay for public safety needs.
During last week’s meeting, Councilor Glen Yung said funding more sheriff’s deputies has been a longstanding local goal. The new sales tax finally allowed Clark County officials to do something about it.
“I’ve been on the council now for close to three-and-a-half years, and this is an issue that I’ve wanted to address from day one,” Yung said. “It is nice to be able to do this.”
Officials with the sheriff’s office were not available to comment on the anticipated impacts of the staffing increase.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office ranked lowest in the state for law enforcement employees per capita in 2024, according to the most recent available data, as presented by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. The state’s 39 counties are ranked in the organization’s Crime in Washington report.
Clark County had 0.60 commissioned officers per 1,000 people, according to the report. Commissioned officers include sergeants and sworn command staff who “possess full arrest powers and carry a weapon.” That’s slightly below the average of 0.68 officers per 1,000 people for departments that serve similarly sized populations.
Clark County had 147 commissioned officers in 2024, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs report. Local staffing levels change constantly, but the department’s current commissioned officer count in 2026 is slightly more than that at 153, according to Clark County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Matt Volker.
The new batch of sheriff’s department staff will cost approximately $4 million to $5 million per year. An additional 43 staff will also be hired to support the new law enforcement personnel in departments including Clark County courts, the jail and the prosecutor’s office. The cost of the full staffing increase is expected to range from $7 million to $12 million per year over the next six years.
Clark County officials hope to augment the new sales tax funding.
Clark County Sheriff John Horch said his office is applying for an additional $6 million from a $100 million state law enforcement grant that lawmakers also approved in 2025.
