Eastern Washington Sheriffs Sue Over New Certification Law

0:00Washington Lawmakers finally passed the bill to tighten rules for sheriff qualifications, but for Eastern Washington Sheriff's wasted no time hitting. Back with the lawsuit, just two days after Governor Bob Ferguson signed it into law. The new measure, Senate Bill 5974, links a sheriff's job directly to their state peace officer certification, plus it sets basics like, five years of experience, being at least 25 years old, and a clean background check. Members from Pandora U, Spokane, Stevens and Ferry counties say this strips power from voters, letting a state board boot an elected sheriff. Through desertification, instead of a recall vote, something they call a power grab hidden in modernization talk. Before this, state rules were fuzzy on what happens if a top cop loses certification, which is super rare anyway since every officer needs it from the Criminal Justice Training Commission. After pushing for a court block on the law, claiming it trashes due process, free speech,

1:00and decades of legal precedent, with a hearing set for April 16th to sort it out. From your city, powered by AI, this is Canada News Today. I'm Cory with the story.