Franklin County takes over jail operations

May 1, 2025

By: Katherine Trowbridge

In Washington State, county commissioners can not take law enforcement duties away from an elected Sheriff, but state law does not prevent them from making the jail a separate county division under their control. This has been done in several Washington Counties including Klickitat, Benton, Clark, Pacific, and, most recently, a resolution passed by Franklin County Commissioners has set it in motion within Franklin County. 

With longstanding division between the board of Commissioners and Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond, the vote to take the jail and create a separate Department of Corrections under their leadership was surprising but not completely unexpected by many in the county. 

Pasco Mayor Pete Serrano didn’t want to tell the County Commissioners how to do their job but he did want to ensure a peaceful and thorough transfer as his city is currently in negotiations for jail services. 

Others expressed concern with the exchange of powers and the fact that the Sheriff was voted into office by the people to run the jail. 

The first item which came before the board of commissioners was Resolution 2025-0131 to define rules and operations at the public safety building transferring security operations at the public safety building from the Sheriff’s Office to the Board of County Commissioners.

County Administrator Brian Dansel stated the board of commissioners does have authority to make this decision and as a contingency the county does have a contractor on standby with multiple staff if they were to act on the item. Commissioner Rocky Mullen moved to approve as presented which was seconded by Commissioner Stephen Bauman. This resolution transferred courthouse security out of the hands of the sheriff’s office. 

Jail Management Resolution 2025-0132 was next, which by state law, would create a standalone County Department of Corrections. Mr. Dansel expressed that it “does not call for any staffing cuts and does not change any agreements as it pertains to daily rates and will not affect any of the interlocal agreements that are in place or being negotiated.” Dansel said, “It really only changes who’s overseeing the jail. All aspects will remain virtually unchanged.” 

Commissioner Bauman stated, “There’s been concern this has been made hastily and in the dark, I would disagree with that notion. I personally sat with four other counties and numerous commissioners just asking about some of the challenges we face with oversight and after thorough conversation over the last number of months and with extensive asking for advice I feel like this is a necessary and appropriate action for us to take today.” 

Commissioner Mullen added that, “The State Auditors report that came out  - it was nothing new. We were aware of everything - they didn’t discover anything that we didn’t already know about and we have  been working on it. But instead of finger pointing and accusations, I think we should take this time to thank Commander Harman for finding the missing payment from the vendor and congratulate him on collecting that check back - good job, well done.” 

Chairman Didier also thanked Commander Harman for getting the accreditation done for the jail. “I think that he was very instrumental in that happening,” Didier said. 

Resolution 2025-0132 to create a Franklin County Department of Corrections was moved by

Commissioner Bauman and seconded by Commissioner Mullen and approved with full consent of the board. 

In public comments, Sheriff Raymond brought forth several discrepancies to the commissioners’ recent actions. The Sheriff stated that the courthouse security building was established and built for the protection of the superior courts and protection of those employees. The Sheriff stated that the court security will remain with the Sheriff until a court order is issued otherwise. 

The Sheriff also stated, “There should be some sort of timely actions, orderly safe exit of jail,” stating they will be working to turn over the jail in the next 48 hours. “I will respect your decision but it will be done in a lawful manner.” 

The Sheriff said it was a shame as Franklin County is the only dual accredited county at both the jail and Sheriff's office within the State of Washington. 

Mr. Briggs expressed concerns with the removal of equipment at the jail. Which the Sheriff claimed were the property of the Sheriff’s office. Mr. Briggs stated that ownership of the firearms was transferred to the new Department of Corrections with the resolution. The Sheriff disagreed that the law requires a proper transfer of firearms. He also expressed that the jail would lose accreditation with the actions of the commissioners and certifications will be gone. Briggs stated new commission cards for corrections staff would be issued. 

As the Sheriff spoke, out of order, Chairman Didier recessed the meeting for five minutes. 

Pasco Mayor Pete Serrano stated, “I just want to make sure the people of Pasco are kept as safe as possible,” sharing that his only attending two meetings in his time on the council speaks to the importance of his being there for this issue. 

Tim Davison, a Pasco resident and 17 year veteran officer of the Benton County Jail told the commissioners, “It’s not going to be a smooth transition,” sharing that operations will be greatly affected by their decision. He also stated that “it will affect those who work there and ultimately public safety.” Davison added that in Benton County, the decision to take over the jail in 2019 led to more taxpayer money collected in order to fund operations at the jail and calling what they went through a “nightmare.” 

“I don’t think you know what you’re doing, I don’t think you know what you’re giving away,” a clerk in the jail said tearing up, “I think it’s a potential risk to the safety of the people who work there….all the people that come and go from the jail, it’s not you, you haven’t been there. What do you know? You know numbers, you know money… You’ve thrown away a lot.” 

Michelle Andres speaking on behalf of those who voted Sheriff Raymond in to oversee the jail stated, “What Franklin County needs is the ability to understand what it means to serve. This county needs you to understand what these people do.” 

Jesus Garcia, Corrections Deputy at the Jail expressed, “To all the law enforcement here today, it’s evident that you guys don’t really understand the terminology and the legality of stuff.” Garcia referenced Mr. Briggs’ statements on firearms mentioning basic law enforcement academy (something no one at the jail has), Garica stated that he recently completed the state’s corrections officer academy (a 10 week program) with not a single second of firearms training, all that training was done through the Sheriff’s Office. Garcia asked, “Why was none of this mentioned to us?  Why is it we only found out yesterday in the middle of the afternoon? Nothing was discussed, how come there is no plan?” 

Chairman Didier seemed to read a pre-written press release after thanking everyone for being there and speaking as he stated, “The state auditors findings give me great concern. With $2 million unaccounted for in a $10 million budget, the two findings from the state auditor's office and the board of commissioners are responsible for putting controls in place so that we stay compliant with the state. I want to thank all of you - the staff at the jail and the Sheriff’s Office for your hard work and your commitment to Franklin County. There will be no cuts to staff. The only change we would be making is who would be overseeing the jail.”  

Chairman Didier asked for the consensus of the board in offering Commander Keilan Harman the role of Interim Jail Administrator. He also asked Commander Harman if he would take the role of overseeing the jail operations, as Sheriff Raymond interrupted stating he was an employee of his office. Harman responded to Chairman Didier with, “I love my people, and I don’t want to see them with anyone else. So, yeah.” 

Bauman voted to move Harman into the role as Interim Administrator, Mullen seconded and the motion passed. 

Following an executive session which included Harman, Bauman moved to “instruct the Prosecuting Attorney's Office to immediately file an injunction with the court to enforce the direction or actions that the board took today, unless the Sheriff immediately complies with the actions the board took today.” 

Bauman added, “I think it is important for public safety and for the peaceful transfer of oversight as the Sheriff identified and it’s important for this action to either be taken voluntarily or for the courts to enforce the action that this board took per their responsibility today.” 

Commissioner Mullen agreed, “The Sheriff did say he would accommodate the smooth transfer within 48 hours, but I think that for the public safety, jail staff safety, and those being held within the jails safety…that we transfer all of the necessary equipment over to Commander Harman.” 

Chairman Didier also agreed with a smooth transition, reiterating the one change made here is that “Mr Harman is going to take over the jail and it needs to be a smooth transition. They need the firearms for the protection of the people working in the jail, the staff, and the prisoners and all we’re asking for is this to happen in that direction. I feel this is proper action for the board to take to ensure the safety of the jail is held intact with the aparatises that they need to make it safe.” 

The motion was approved. 

The votes on the above resolutions came during the commissioners regular meeting on Wednesday, April 23, where County Administrator Dansel stated the resolutions were requested by the board. This meeting was continued to Thursday, April 24 at 1 pm, where the commissioners amended the agenda to include four additional items including addressing Jail Director contract with Commander Harman, hiring Jansky as Jail Captain, contract with TC Monitoring, and Resolution 2025-1330 Clerk of Board operational alignment. 

Bauman moved to enter into negotiations with Commander Harman on running the jail, this motion was seconded by Mullen and approved. Bauman also moved, Mullen seconded to hire Jeremy Jansky as captain of the Franklin County Jail. The motion was approved. 

Commissioner Bauman also moved, Mullen seconded to enter into a contract for services with TC Monitoring. No explanation was presented. We later clarified that this is the private company hired to oversee security at the courthouse. One in which County Administrator

Dansel reference was already in place to take over operations during Wednesday's meeting.

Commissioner Mullen moved and Bauman seconded the motion to rescind Resolution 2025-1330 and replace it with Resolution 2025-1333. The meeting was adjourned. 

On Monday, April 28, Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond held a press conference where he stated that he went into the jail and took the firearms that he claims belong to his office. These firearms were found in a “locked closet.” The Sheriff explained that the jail is not equipped with a weapons armory. These are not allowed for safety reasons, giving the example of if the inmates were to take over the jail. Sheriff Raymond emphasized that the weapons are the property of the Sheriff only. The Sheriff stated he went into the jail and recovered his weapons (50 in total, stating not all were accounted for). Raymond also explained that the weapons are only used during transport of inmates.

Sheriff Raymond did add, “There needs to be an orderly progression to hand over the jail.” 

“This is not going to be the first problem,” Raymond expressed, “You don’t have a clue, commissioners - all you did is stroke the pen and left this big mess for us to figure out.” While also stating he will not accept the resignation of Commander Harman from his staff expressing there is a logical manner to reassign commander duties by civil service rules. 

“I’m going to vigorously fight it,” the Sheriff said, of the takeover of the Franklin County Jail and Court Security. He added that he is asking for an outside specialty deputy prosecutor that will represent him solely. “We’ll see in the end where the courts stand with this.” 

He stated, “There’s a personal vendetta to the Sheriff and none of it is in the best interest of Public Safety” 

Sheriff Raymond went on to state “The community should be concerned.”