New state rules coming for Songer, posse

KLICKITAT CO. — Washington’s Legislature passed more than 250 bills during the 2026 short session, and at least two are now subject to court challenges, including Senate Bill 5974. The law establishes stricter eligibility requirements for Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer and others who share his helm across the state.

It also spells out what triggers a sheriff vacancy and explicitly limits the responsibilities they can assign to often untrained volunteers, otherwise called posse members.

Both the Washington State Sheriffs’ Association and four sheriffs from eastern Washington have filed separate lawsuits against SB 5974, but unless either is successful, all those under oath after April 30 must be a U.S. citizen, 25 years old, have five years of law enforcement experience and hold a high school diploma, at minimum. Sheriffs with a prior felony, gross misdemeanor or conduct that meets state standards for decertification won’t be eligible for office as well, and all must participate in a limited background check as proof.

Although sheriffs already had to graduate from the academy and get certified by Washington’s Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC), SB 5974 also moved the timeline for peace officer certification up from 12 to nine months after taking office.

Beyond any new requirement, however, scrutiny from law enforcement has largely revolved the bill’s attempt to clarify “what must occur when a sheriff, police chief, or town marshal has their certification revoked.”

According to a certification official at CJTC, it was unclear what would happen to a sitting sheriff should they lose peace officer status before SB 5974. Some sheriffs had argued they could still provide administrative oversight while not participating in patrols or arrests, the official said, a position that hasn’t been legally tested. (As internal policy, CTJC employees aren’t permitted to provide on-the-record comments without permission from the executive director.)

Under SB 5974, decertification now creates a vacancy. The absolute and potential grounds for revocation, like making false statements, any number of sex offenses, interfering with an investigation and more, remain unchanged. The same goes for CTJC’s process used to determine whether decertification is appropriate, which must be affirmed by five people in the commission’s investigation’s division and the state attorney general’s office, with an administrative hearing being the final step.

If the five-member panel deems revocation as the only path forward, rather than a suspension or retraining, county officials would then appoint a replacement.

Sheriffs from Spokane, Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties allege the system “does not merely regulate how sheriffs perform their duties. Instead, it conditions eligibility to run for, assume, and remain in office on compliance with a statewide administrative certification regime,” according to a lawsuit originally filed in Pend Oreille Superior County Court.

SB 5974 effectively “shifts decisive authority over the office of county sheriff away from voters and elected officials and vests it in an unelected executive agency,” they argued, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the legislation from taking effect.

New restrictions on posse members are also coming down the pipe. Songer didn’t respond to requests for comment, but prior reporting by InvestigateWest shows the roughly 170-strong group providing courthouse security, assisting with inmate transport, manning the front desk and participating in cougar hunts.

Some have limited arrest power and carry firearms, and discipline is entirely at Songer’s discretion. Former Undersheriff Marc Boardman, who Songer beat during the 2014 election, left his post because he was concerned about the lack of training posse members received.

Unless posse members have completed peace officer training, SB 5974 prohibits them from enforcing criminal or immigration law, engaging in pursuits, detaining or arresting people, carrying firearms, sharing information from law enforcement databases, operating surveillance technology and using force. Allowed duties are limited to administrative and technical support, bicycle recovery, search and rescue, transport, parking enforcement and other public-safety related work.

Sheriff offices and counties have until 2027 to implement the appropriate rules and ordinances for posse members; however, the CJTC official said no state agency has received a mandate to ensure those are in place.

Additionally, no entity has direct authority over posse members. CJTC fields complaints made against law enforcement officials and could investigate a sheriff, for instance, if they continued using volunteers to make arrests, but not the posse members themselves.

Candidate filing week in Washington begins May 4. Songer hasn’t publicly confirmed whether he will seek reelection yet.