Yakima Valley police chiefs call on Coroner Jim Curtice to resign

Yakima County Sheriff Bob Udell and police chiefs from around the Yakima Valley are calling for Yakima County Coroner Jim Curtice to step down.

In a joint statement, the police chiefs of Union Gap, Selah, Yakima, Moxee, Toppenish, Wapato, Zillah, Grandview, Sunnyside and Zillah, as well as Udell, said Curtice needs to “do the honorable thing and resign from his position immediately.”

Curtice has been on a self-imposed paid administrative leave since September, when he admitted to Yakima police that he falsely accused his chief deputy of trying to poison him to cover up that he was snorting drugs he found on dead bodies, according to a complaint filed by prosecutors in district court.

Attempts to contact Curtice’s attorney, Bill Pickett, were not successful. He did not immediately return phone calls left at his office and on his personal cell phone.

Curtice is charged in Yakima County District Court with making false statements to police, evidence tampering and official misconduct, and he’s the target of a recall petition filed by three county Republican precinct committee officers and backed by the county GOP.

While empathetic to people struggling with substance abuse, the law enforcement executives said Curtice’s actions “violated public trust and compromised his office and his ability to be an effective leader working with law enforcement again.

“Even though we are empathetic to Coroner Curtice’s struggles and sincerely hope he can have a lasting recovery, some lines can’t be crossed, and specific behaviors cannot be tolerated.”

Curtice’s administrative leave is causing Chief Yakima County Deputy Coroner Marshall Slight to work excessive hours, straining the coroner’s office, the statement said. Slight has been serving as acting coroner in Curtice’s absence.

Slight and Dr. Jeffery Reynolds, who performs autopsies on homicide victims for the county, both said they would quit if Curtice were to return to his post.

Udell joined with the Yakima County Commissioners and Auditor Charles Ross in an earlier letter asking Curtice to step down.

As an elected official, the only way to remove Curtice from his position is through a recall, a regular election or resignation.

Curtice’s drug use came to light after he overdosed in his office in August 2024 and claimed that someone spiked his workout drink powder and a tea kettle in his office with fentanyl, and said that Slight, who ran against him in 2022, had motive to kill him.

Curtice checked himself into Deer Hollow, a Utah rehabilitation center that specializes in police and first responders. Curtice first went there in 2023, after he was accused of kicking a sheriff’s deputy who responded to his home when Curtice was drunk and fighting with an off-duty deputy.

In both cases, Curtice’s wife, Kristi K. Foster, blamed post-traumatic stress disorder Curtice had as a result of childhood trauma and work as a paramedic for his behavior.

In the 2023 incident, Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Brusic declined to file charges. In the current case, Brusic recused himself because Curtice discussed the overdose with him, and the Ellensburg city prosecutor is trying the case.

Reach Donald W. Meyers at dmeyers@yakimaherald.com.