A group of former Pierce County officials has filed suit against the county in an effort to block a proposal that would shift the sheriff’s position from an elected to an appointed role.
Voters in Pierce County will weigh in on several charter amendments this November, among them Charter Amendment 53, which would convert the sheriff’s seat from elected to appointed. Passage of the measure would cut short Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank’s four-year term on January 1, 2027, after which Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello would name a replacement.
“Mello has publicly stated he is ready to appoint, and it will not be Swank,” the lawsuit, obtained by KIRO Newsradio, read. “Mello is seeking to convert elected offices to appointed offices to centralize control of county government in his office.”
Hollie Rogge, a former District 3 representative for Pierce County, joined Brian Sonntag, a former Pierce County clerk and auditor, and Jeff Joseph, a former Republican committee officer, in bringing the lawsuit.
“Charter Amendment 53 invades my right to elect a sheriff,” Sonntag wrote in the lawsuit. “Amendment 53 violates my rights as a resident to service from the elected sheriff for his full four-year term.”
Swank also expressed his support through the lawsuit and said he plans to file what he calls the “People’s Charter Amendment” Wednesday. The proposal would keep the sheriff’s seat elected and nonpartisan, reinstate the four-year term voters approved in 2024, and set term limits for the sheriff, auditor, and assessor-treasurer.
Backers would have 180 days from approval of a ballot title to collect the required signatures.
“Sheriff Swank was elected during a presidential election when voter turnout was at its highest,” the lawsuit read. “Amendment 53 will be on the ballot where far fewer voters will decide the outcome.”
Swank took office after defeating Patti Jackson in the November 2024 election to succeed former Sheriff Ed Troyer, and has since drawn attention for remarks made publicly and on social media.
Rogge raised concerns in the suit that Amendment 53 would establish a “dangerous precedent” by bypassing the recall process used to remove an elected official.
“If an elected officer may be removed by Charter Amendment, the council would have the power to recommend Pierce County voters amend the Pierce County Charter to eliminate any office, and its office holder whose speech does not align with majority rule, without a recall process,” Rogge wrote in the lawsuit. “This would include fellow councilmembers.”
This is a developing story, check back for updates.