Recognizing the fallen: Council adopts plan to create King County Sheriff Deputy’s memorial

April 8, 2013

Summary

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Fifteen members of the King County Sheriff’s Office have been killed in the line of duty since the department was established with the creation of the County in 1852. There is no memorial within the County honoring those men who died protecting their fellow citizens. Today the Metropolitan King County Council gave its unanimous support to a study that will look at creating a memorial to recognize fallen deputies within the King County Courthouse.

“Memorializing the members of the King County Sheriff’s Office that have given the ultimate sacrifice to protect their communities is long overdue,” said Councilmember Reagan Dunn, the prime sponsor of the ordinance. “I look forward to working with Sheriff Urquhart and the King County Police Officers Guild to ensure that these 15 heroes are never forgotten and that this memorial becomes a reality.”

The measure has received strong support from the city of Covington, which sent a letter Signed by the Mayor with the backing of the City Council urging full Council support. The measure is also strongly supported by the city of Maple Valley which is expected to pass a resolution supporting the measure tonight at their City Council meeting.

“The Covington City Council offers its unanimous support for your Proposed Ordinance 2013-0132,” said Mayor of Covington Margaret Harto. “As a city that contracts with King County for police services, we believe it is important to honor our fallen deputies here in King County.”

The Sheriff's Office is King County’s first and longest serving law enforcement agency. The first sheriff deputy killed in the line of duty was in 1853, the most recent was in 2006. All fifteen deputies are recognized both in Washington, D.C. as part of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and in Olympia, where they are listed on the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial. But there is no memorial in the county where the deputies lost their lives.

The adopted ordinance calls on the Executive and the King County Sheriff to develop a proposal for the creation of a memorial recognizing fallen King County Sheriff deputies within the Courthouse. The proposal should include where the memorial will be located, a method to solicit designs for the display, and the proposed schedule, budget and potential funding sources for its construction.

The proposed ordinance calls for the Executive and Sheriff to submit their proposal to the County Council by June 1.