Thurston County expects to open a new, multimillion-dollar sheriff station in Tumwater in 2026 if all goes as planned.
"In a perfect world, it would be early next year," Sheriff Derek Sanders told The Olympian. "I think realistically, it'll probably be about this time next year, when we're finally settled in and good to go and everything's running as it should be."
The Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a purchase agreement for the building that will house the new station on Sept. 17. The total cost of the purchase will be $14.25 million, per the agreement.
The building is located at 1111 Israel Road SW, which is near Tumwater High School and Interstate 5. It will cost the county about $4.75 million to renovate and furnish the building as well as an additional $2 million to provide a vehicle impound facility and possible shooting range, Capital Projects Planning Manager Rick Thomas previously said.
That would bring the total cost of the new building to $21 million. Last month, the county indicated the Public Safety Sales Tax, which voters approved last November, would pay for the building and renovations.
"This potential acquisition represents a significant investment in our community's safety and well-being," Commissioner and Board Chair Tye Menser said in a news release. "Thanks to the community's support of the Public Safety Tax, which accentuates our collective dedication to enhancing public safety resources."
The county only began receiving revenue from that tax in June, and it expects to collect about $5.1 million in 2024 and $8.8 million in 2025, according to the county budget.
Following the announcement, The Olympian asked the county to elaborate on how it plans to pay for the new sheriff station and as well as the timeline for the project.
How will the county pay for a new sheriff station?
In May, the board approved a plan to raise up to $42 million by issuing bonds to finance the purchase of a new building for the Sheriff's Office, renovate the Auditor's ballot processing center at its Mottman Complex and improve the security system at its Family and Juvenile Court in Tumwater.
When reached for comment, Clerk of the Board Amy Davis said the county intends to start issuing bonds for those projects later this year.
The county expects to raise $21 million for the new sheriff station, $10 million of the ballot processing center and $2 million for Family and Juvenile Court, she said.
A brand-new building would be nice, but Sanders said he just wants all his staff in an affordable building that doesn't leak and meets their needs.
"The bar was very low," Sanders said. "I just wanted to get us into an acceptable building, at a budget friendly target, where our employees actually have a place where they can call home."
Davis said the county plans to pay for the bonds for the sheriff station with money in a Public Safety Sales Tax fund that's dedicated to law enforcement.
The Public Safety Sales Tax is a two-tenths of 1% sales tax. Like other sales taxes, Davis said the public pays the tax when they purchase a product from a store.
Stores pay all collected sales tax for a given month to the Washington State Department of Revenue, which distributes the revenue to the county two months after a taxpayer paid the tax at a store, Davis said.
Revenue from the Public Safety Tax is divided into two funds at the county: one labeled "law" and another labeled "justice," per the budget.
The county set up the tax so 75% of the money it retains would fund law enforcement services and infrastructure and 25% would fund additional prosecution and public defense services as well as elections security infrastructure.
The county expects the law fund to collect a total of about $3.8 million in 2024 and $6.6 million in 2025, according to the budget. Meanwhile, the justice fund is expected to collect about $1.3 million in 2024 and $2.2 million in 2025.
So far, the county has received about $2.4 million in revenue from the Public Safety Sales Tax for the Sheriff's Office from June to September, according to Heidi Thomsen, chief of the Sheriff's Office Financial Services Bureau.
If the current trend holds, that means the Sheriff's Office is on track to get more than the $3.8 million the county expected to receive for law enforcement in 2024.
Purchasing a building for the new sheriff station also will help the county's finances long-term.
The Sheriff's Office currently has split operations across three locations in county. One of them is the Field Operations Bureau, which is housed within a warehouse building at a 7717 New Market Street SW in Tumwater.
That county leases that building from the Port of Olympia for $20,188.75 per month under their current one-year lease extension, Davis said. Once the sale closes, the county will fully own the building on Israel Street and move its Field Operations Bureau there.
"Owning the building allows the county to plan for the future needs of the Sheriff's Office and make necessary improvements without the constraints of a lease agreement," Commissioner Wayne Fournier said in a news release. "This purchase is a large step in addressing the county's growing facility needs."
Sanders echoed that feeling. He said he supported the board's efforts to get them out of leased space.
"We really should be buying and owning things as the government," Sanders said. "That way in the future, whether we get bigger or smaller, we can then leverage those assets and then sell them off and use that money so that the next time, it's cheaper for the public."
What happens next?
The county agreed to pay a $500,000 deposit for the new building last month, which starts a 105-day inspection period, according to the release.
During that time, the county will "fully evaluate the property" to ensure it meets its needs before paying the full price, the release reads. The deposit will be refunded if the county decides not to proceed.
Davis said it will take the county about one-year after the purchase is closed to renovate the building. If all goes as planned, she said the county estimates the Sheriff's Office will be able to move in as early as Spring 2026.
As part of the plan, the Sheriff's Office will move its administrative offices out of the county courthouse campus in Olympia, which is undergoing its own limited renovation, to the new station on Israel Road.
Notably, state law requires the sheriff to keep an office at the county seat, which is Olympia. Sanders said he still plans to keep a small office at the county courthouse that will be open to the public.
"It'll basically be like, either a one person or a kiosk type thing," Sanders said. "So, people will still be able to go to the courthouse and take care of some basic sheriff's office stuff."
The Israel Road building currently houses the Washington State Parks physical headquarters and the county expects them to move out before it starts construction, Davis said.
State Parks plans to relocate to a state-owned building at 300 Desmond Drive SE in Lacey to collocate with the state Department of Ecology, said State Parks' Director of Administrative Services Laura Holmes in a statement to The Olympian.
"The timing of the move is still to be determined, although it is expected that the Tumwater building will be vacated no later than June 30, 2025," Holmes said.
Parks moved into the Israel Road location in December 2008 and currently leases the building at a cost of just under $1.5 million annually, Holmes said.
Parks, which is mostly user-fee funded, will pay to use the space at the Ecology building and expects to save roughly 40% of its costs by moving there, Holmes said.
The county is not abruptly forcing Parks to move out of the Israel Road building. Holmes said Parks formalized a relocation plan in April 2023 after reviewing its footprint needs.
"Due to increased telework since the space was originally leased in 2008, the analysis showed that headquarters footprint could be reduced by 30% and collocating in a state-owned facility would be most cost efficient," Holmes said.
Parks anticipates operating a front desk reception at the Ecology building and offering the same level of service there, Holmes said.
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