“Civilian oversight is a badly-needed reform that will help restore public confidence in the Sheriff’s Office,” said Councilmember Bob Ferguson, chair of the Council’s Law, Justice and Human Services Committee. “This legislation creates transparency and independence in the investigative process. It also ensures that citizen complaints are taken seriously while protecting the reputations of the vast majority of Sheriff’s deputies who serve with honor every day.”

“This is the culmination of work that started in January when Councilmember Ferguson and I realized that the current system to investigate misconduct in the Sheriff’s Office was inadequate,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson. “The Office of Law Enforcement Oversight will provide the people of King County with a window into the Sheriff's internal investigation process to ensure that it is thorough and fair.”

Ferguson and Patterson co-sponsored the legislation approved today in committee. They recently traveled to Los Angeles to view first-hand a model of successful civilian oversight. The committee has held nine meetings to consider sheriff’s oversight since January, receiving testimony from the King County Sheriff’s Office, King County Ombudsman, Seattle Police Department, and King County Auditor, among other officials, as well as a briefing from the Sheriff’s Blue Ribbon Panel, which was created to review internal systems that deal with employee misconduct and discipline within the Sheriff’s Office.

The proposed legislation would establish an Office of Law Enforcement Oversight that reports directly to the King County Council. The office would be responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct and to track, monitor and critique the Sheriff’s investigations of allegations. The office would present an annual report showing the results of complaint investigations. The Director of the Office, who would be appointed by the County Executive and confirmed by the Council, would serve a four-year term and be subject to removal by a majority vote of the Council.

The proposed legislation would also:

King County Executive Ron Sims today announced that his 2007 Executive Proposed Budget will include $1.3 million to fund the Office of Law Enforcement Oversight as well as implementing some of the recommendations of the Sheriff’s Blue Ribbon Panel.

“I would like to thank the Council for its early and ongoing support for citizen oversight in the King County Sheriff’s Office,” said Executive Sims. “This is one of my top budget priorities as I believe bringing transparency and accountability to the Sheriff’s Office is vital to maintaining public confidence. Councilmembers Ferguson and Patterson have shown great leadership in pursuit of these goals.”

“The Executive, the Council and the Sheriff’s Office all have the same goal: restoring the public’s trust that investigations into allegations of misconduct will be thorough and transparent,” said Patterson. “The old standards of investigation are outdated. The new standard protects the rights of both the public and the Sheriff’s Office.”

“The work of the Executive to ensure that there will be money to implement both this legislation and some of the recommendations of the Sheriff’s Blue Ribbon Panel is a measure of how seriously we take the issue of trust between the public and the Sheriff’s Office,” said Ferguson. “That trust has been shaken. This is a positive step towards restoring the trust that is vital in maintaining public safety.”

The legislation now goes to the full King County Council, which is scheduled to take action on October 9.