Deal Providing Coverage to Pe Ell Subject to Review in January

Morton Council Approves Pe Ell Police Contract

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The Morton City Council voted unanimously Monday, Sept 26, to approve a contract with Pe Ell to provide police coverage to the west Lewis County town.

“I was the one that delayed the contract because I wanted to double check everything,” Morton Mayor Dan Mortensen said. “It’s always a challenge when you enter into a contract like this because, one, it’s so far away and, two, it’s a different entity.”

Mortensen told The Chronicle the contract will be reviewed after 90 days to “make sure we don’t have any surprises.”

According to Mortensen, Pe Ell Mayor Lonnie Willey was “very accepting and amiable” of the idea to review the contract after 90 days in January. Mortensen also made it clear the contract does not expire in 90 days, but rather is simply going to be reviewed to ensure it’s working effectively.

“Once we get into that … we can make it work to everyone’s satisfaction,” Mortensen said.

According to Willey, officers from the Morton Police Department have already started patrolling within the town.

Right now, Pe Ell’s one full-time officer lives in Chehalis, resolving what had been a concern about officers having to commute across the county.

Willey said the number of officers will vary. Beyond its full-time officer, Pe Ell also has reserve officers and a school resource officer.

According to Willey, whether or not a position such as school resource officer becomes full time will have to be determined in the future.



“We’ll just have to see how it goes,” Willey said.

Back in July, Morton Police Chief Roger Morningstar, who had been working with Pe Ell officials and Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza to address the town’s lack of law enforcement, was asked to explain the benefits of the contract to Morton. Morningstar told the council the contract would allow the police department to receive more funding.

“(Under the contract) we become a regional agency, we can get regional grants,” Morningstar said. “Locally, it gives us a bigger seat at the table (for negotiations).”

He also said the contract could help the Morton Police Department by boosting morale.

“It gives our guys a change of scenery, which could help with retention,” Morningstar said in July.

According to previous Chronicle reporting, the idea for the Pe-Ell-Morton police contract originated with the Lewis County Sheriff's Office. After the Pe Ell marshal left in September 2020, the sheriff's office began providing coverage for the town while Pe Ell sought a new marshal. But, due to staffing shortages, the sheriff’s office began searching for another agency to administer law enforcement services for Pe Ell, Snaza said in July.

According to Snaza, the sheriff’s office first reached out to Toledo to see if its police department could cover Pe Ell. Snaza said former Toledo Police Chief John Brockmueller was open to the idea. Snaza said without a marshal, Pe Ell’s reserve police officer was legally unable to carry out law enforcement duties. The original plan was for Toledo’s officers to cover Pe Ell while the town’s reserve police officer underwent training to become the new Pe Ell marshal. However, those plans fell apart after the Pe Ell reserve officer left his position.