Earlier this year, City of Morton and Morton Police Department staff approached the City of Mossyrock about amending the interlocal agreement (ILA) to increase how much Mossyrock pays Morton for policing services.
The original ILA was set to expire at the end of 2025.
The Morton Police Department, like many across the nation, has been facing staffing shortages and has struggled to get new officers to come work in the rural East Lewis County community. Additionally, inflation is still driving up operational and equipment costs.
In September, members of the Mossyrock City Council discussed the possibility of entering an ILA with another law enforcement agency if they could find a cheaper rate during the council’s regular meeting on Sept. 17.
During both the Morton and Mossyrock city council meetings in November, both councils ended up approving the new amended ILA for the Morton Police Department to continue providing patrols in Mossyrock through the end of 2026 at least.
“It’s actually going up $65,000, so it’ll go up to $185(,000) for 2026 alone,” Mossyrock Mayor Randall Sasser said during the Nov. 19 Mossyrock City Council meeting.
Sasser added he contacted other nearby municipalities and considered possibly approving an ILA with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
The nearest municipality with a police department besides Morton is Winlock, more than half an hour away. According to Sasser, contracting with the Winlock Police Department would cost even more than the Morton Police Department.
The City of Toledo currently pays $228,000 per its ILA with the Winlock Police Department for services, according to Sasser.
Although Lewis County Sheriff’s Office officials had told Mossyrock City Councilor Shannon Mcarron earlier this year that $123,000 would be enough to fund one full-time lateral sheriff’s deputy to patrol Mossyrock, that was before Lewis County officials began work on the county’s 2026 budget.
“They are actually cutting back on how many sheriff’s (deputies) they have. Their budget is being reduced. And that’s not a viable option,” Sasser said.
Also in attendance at the Nov. 19 meeting were Morton Police Chief Cole Cournyer and Morton Mayor Rick Mead.
While she thanked Cournyer for his service, Mcarron still took issue with the price increase for 2026 and asked how the Morton Police Department would be able to provide service with one of its two full-time officers out on medical leave following a dog attack.
According to Cournyer, the City of Morton has its own ILA with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office to answer emergency calls in both Morton and Mossyrock in the event Cournyer and the Morton Police Department’s reserve officer are both off duty.
Mead added the main reason for increasing the amount Mossyrock was paying was to help hire an additional third full-time officer in the Morton Police Department.
“That’s why we’re asking for more money,” Mead said. “Currently, 61% of our budget goes to our police department … Now, I did throw something at Randall the other day. We would not mind at all to pay you guys the 185 a year, and you guys can pay for the clerk, the chief, the other ones, all the uptake on all the cars, vehicles, insurance and everything else. We don’t mind doing that. We’re not trying to strongarm anybody. In 11, 12 years that we’ve been patrolling the area, it’s been for pennies on the dollar.”
In previous years, Morton was able to utilize its reserves to keep providing service to both cities without raising costs more than once every three to four years, Sasser added.
Mead’s original request was to raise the cost in the ILA up to $210,000 a year, but he brought it down to $185,000 after talking with Sasser. Mead added there was an officer waiting to start working, but the city needs additional funding to pay the salary.
He also stated if the Mossyrock City Council decided not to approve the new ILA, the Morton City Council would not be renewing the ILA with Mossyrock and would not provide policing services to Mossyrock anymore — as the city could not afford it at the current rate.
According to Cournyer, the Morton Police Department — along with many other small rural departments like it across the state — struggles with hiring officers as they can’t compete with the salaries and signing bonuses offered by larger law enforcement agencies like those in Pierce County.
“This is only a one-year contract,” Sasser said. “... The whole idea behind this (ILA) is to be able to give the money to the Morton Police Department to be able to acquire that other officer, and it gives our council an opportunity now to look at the contract that is going to be ending in December of (20)26. Then that gives us the opportunity to look, ‘Is that 185 too much?’ Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? We’ll look at it as it goes through the year.”
Despite still taking issue with the price increase, Mcarron and the rest of the Mossyrock City Council unanimously approved the amended ILA.
During the Morton City Council meeting the following week on Nov. 24, the ILA was also unanimously approved by councilors there.
Along with aiming to respond to calls in Mossyrock around the clock, councilors in Morton stated the new ILA also stated a Morton Police Department officer would spend a minimum of at least two hours a day patrolling in Mossyrock.
