Benton County Sheriff install new Undersheriff amid recall effort

KENNEWICK, Wash.-- The Benton County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday that the agency has promoted an officer to the role of Undersheriff.

Sheriff Jerry Hatcher has been plagued publicly with personal and professional challenges since October of last year, when his then-wife sought an order of protection against him.

Hatcher was appointed to the role of Sheriff in early 2017, and was elected to the position later that year.

He never appointed an Undersheriff-- a role he had once held in the agency-- but attempted to fulfill the duties of an Undersheriff on his own.

"Trying to do two jobs as the Sheriff and Undersheriff, it's almost impossible for me to get out from behind my desk and go check on things from everything from morale to processes to procedures and all that," Hatcher told Newsradio 610 KONA in June, immediately after the Sheriff Deputy's Guild voted to initiate a recall of the Sheriff. "I get tied up with administrative tasks so much that I don't get to communicate with the great deputies that work at the Sheriff's Office."

Hatcher said that was one of the complaints he had received earlier in the year when deputies passed a vote of no confidence in the Sheriff.

According to a facebook posting, John Clary was appointed to the role of Undersheriff on Tuesday, July 14, 2020. The posting points out that Clary has 27 years of law enforcement experience, and that he served as a Lieutenant for five years at his previous agency, though the post did not specify what agency, or when Clary was hired by the Benton County Sheriff's Office.

Sgt. Jon Schwarder was also promoted to the role of Lieutenant.

Several top level leaders in the agency have resigned over the past few months, citing  “horrible leadership and fraud” with in the Sheriff's Office.