Sheriff To Open Station In Valley County Commissioners Agree To Plan, But Details About Office Still Uncertain

Spokane County commissioners took a big step Tuesday toward decentralizing the Sheriff’s Office, agreeing to open a precinct station in the Valley.

In his successful 1998 campaign for sheriff, Mark Sterk promised to move to a system where patrol deputies and detectives are headquartered in the neighborhoods they serve instead of the Public Safety Building downtown.

Sterk said Tuesday he envisions a precinct office in the Valley to serve the eastern and southern portions of the county and another in the north to serve the northern and western portions.

“I truly believe this is the best way to serve residents,” Sterk told commissioners.

The Sheriff’s Office operated a station in the Valley until 1981, when it was closed to save money.

Details about how much the new Valley station will cost, where it will go, when it will open and what it will look like haven’t been worked out.

Commissioners decided Tuesday to appoint a task force to address those issues.

The committee will include Commissioner Kate McCaslin, members of the sheriff’s staff, Valley business owners and residents. It is expected to meet over the next month to come up with a plan for the station.

Sterk envisions a facility with interview rooms for detectives, a squad room for patrol officers and holding cells for prisoners arrested in the Valley.

That would improve service and save money by allowing deputies to spend more time in their assigned areas, instead of running downtown for meetings or to drop off prisoners at the jail, he said.

Sterk initially recommended building a facility at a cost of as much as $750,000. Commissioners balked at that proposal, and Sterk since has backed off.

Instead, commissioners will look for a vacant structure that can be leased or purchased, something Sterk said Tuesday that he can accept.

There is no money earmarked in the 2001 budget to pay for the proposed precinct office, said Marshall Farnell, the county’s budget administrator.

Commissioners would have to pay for the station out of the county’s $10 million reserve, Farnell said.

“At this point, we don’t know what we’re going to have to spend,” he said.

McCaslin, whose district includes most of the urban portions of the Valley, said Tuesday she is a strong supporter of the proposed station.

“I want to do it, and I want to do it as fast as reasonably possible,” she said. “What I’m looking for is a major law enforcement presence back in the Valley.”

Commissioner Phil Harris also said he supports the concept.

“We need it out there, there’s no question about that,” Harris said. He suggested operating the proposed station for a year or so to see how it works before making a major investment in it.

Commissioner John Roskelley raised reservations, however.

While not opposing the precinct concept, Roskelley said Tuesday he felt like his colleagues were rushing into it without getting pertinent questions answered.

“Like what’s it going to cost?” he said.

Roskelley also said he worries about sinking a lot of money into a facility in the Valley when some residents are pushing to form a city there. A vote on that incorporation proposal could come sometime next year.

“I think we need to study this and see what the options are and not just do it,” he said. “I didn’t think this was just going to be rammed through.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: BACKGROUND Valley station

The Sheriff’s Office operated a station in the Valley until 1981, when it was closed to save money.