Jones not seeking fourth term as Grant County sheriff
Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones has announced that he will not be seeking reelection but will finish out his current term which ends this year. Jones has served in law enforcement for about 30 years and as sheriff for nearly a dozen of those years.
Courtesy Photo/GCSO
Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones (right) congratulates Corrections Deputy Colin Clemons (left) after swearing the new officer in on Feb. 22 of this year. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office oversees operations at the county jail and several other public safety programs.
EPHRATA — Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones announced on Tuesday that he will not seek re-election to a fourth term.
“It was just a joint decision with my family,” Jones said. “I’ve been in the business for 30 years, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of bringing the sheriff’s office into the future, so it’s time.”
Jones, 53, said he will serve out the remainder of his current four-year term, which ends in December. He started with the Soap Lake Police Department in 1992, joined the Grant County Sheriff’s Office in 1997, and worked his way up through the ranks, he said, until he ran for and was elected sheriff in 2010.
“It’s my 12th year, and I’ll be finishing my third term. That’s almost half of my career,” Jones said.
Jones said he was proudest of bringing back GCSO’s K9 program, establishing a drone program and integrating Grant County Emergency Management and the county’s code enforcement operations into the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff was also instrumental in the passage of a special 0.3% dedicated law enforcement sales tax in 2019. The county is going to use the proceeds to build a new jail in Ephrata.
Jones, a Moses Lake resident, is also the current president of the Washington State Sheriffs’ Association, vice president of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police chiefs, and a member of the Behind the Badge Foundation’s executive board.
Jones, who described serving as the Grant County sheriff as the honor of his life, said he does not yet have plans for retirement and does not have any preference as to his successor.
“We’ll see who steps up to take over the position,” Jones said.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com
