Four sheriffs from eastern Washington brought the lawsuit. The law set new standards for the office: a sheriff must be at least 25 years old, must have at least five years of law enforcement experience, and could not hold a prior felony or gross misdemeanor conviction. A sheriff who failed those standards, or whose state certification was revoked, could be removed.
Judge Schaller had already halted much of the law on April 29, the day before it was set to take effect. Her permanent ruling follows that temporary order. In her reasoning, the remedy for a disappointing elected official is the next election, not removal by the state.
The state has said it will appeal to defend the law. A formal written order was expected later this month, so the fight is not over. The case now heads toward a higher court.
Who holds the badge, and who holds the people
Now, a sheriff's badge is a small thing to look at. But behind it sits a very old question: who gets to say who rules over free people? In America, the answer has been the people themselves, at the ballot box. The judge has now said that answer cannot be quietly set aside by a board in the capital.
I will leave the lawyers to argue the fine points of the statute. What I want you to see is the principle underneath, and the Bible has spoken to it for three thousand years.
"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn." (Proverbs 29:2)
Notice what the verse does not say. It does not say the people rejoice when government grows larger, or when power moves farther from their homes. It says they rejoice when righteous men hold authority. Character is the thing. A sheriff stands nearest to the widow whose door is kicked in and the farmer whose fence is cut. When such a man fears God, the whole county breathes easier.
Scripture also teaches us to honor the office. The apostle wrote:
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." (Romans 13:1)
That cuts two ways, my friend. Every officer, from sheriff to governor, holds his place under a Higher Authority. None of them made himself. And no earthly power may stand where only God stands, as lord of the conscience. A man who answers first to his Maker will hold an office honestly. A state that forgets there is a Maker will start to believe it can remove anyone who disagrees with it.
That is why the gospel matters even to a story about a courtroom in Thurston County. Laws can set the age of a sheriff and the length of his service. They cannot make him just. No board can write righteousness into a man. Only the new birth does that, when a sinner turns from himself and trusts the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for his sins and rose again.
Pray for your sheriff, whatever you think of his politics. Pray for the judge, and for the officials who will appeal. Then look to your own house. Are you answerable to God there? Rulers rise and fall, laws pass and are struck down, but the Word of the Lord stands. Seek Him while He may be found, and let your neighbors see a righteous man in authority over his own home.