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   King County Sheriff

Emergency: Call 9-1-1 

King County Courthouse
516 Third Ave
Room W-150
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 296-4155
TTY Relay: 7-1-1
sheriff@kingcounty.gov

Call (206) 296-3311 to report a neighborhood problem or a crime that is not an emergency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
What is Civil Service all about?

The majority of our employees are covered by the Washington State Civil Service System. RCW 41.14.010 states:

“The general purpose of [Civil Service] is to establish a merit system of employment for county deputy sheriffs and other employees of the office of county sheriff, thereby raising the standards and efficiency of such offices and law enforcement in general.”

For the King County Sheriff’s Office, the Human Resources Division for King County fulfills the Civil Service function by managing the hiring process for all of our Civil Service positions.

Civil Service  is a highly-structured system of employment based upon equal competition for the vacancies that occur. When we plan to hire a permanent civil service employee, we must choose from a list of candidates, provided by the King County Human Resources Division. From this list, supervisors can arrange for interviews with those that are interested and select an employee based on that interview, reference checking, and/or other selection methods.

When our current list of candidates for a specific job classification has too few candidates, or is outdated, a recruitment bulletin (job announcement) is published to advertise for potential candidates. In order to create a merit system for the employment of Sheriff’s Office employees, a series of “tests”, are administered. Testing may include technical testing (for example, typing tests, Microsoft Office tests, etc.), an oral board interview or both. The purpose of this testing is to create a ranked eligibility list of those who are capable of doing the job being recruited for. This list is then used to fill any vacancies that may occur for one year from the time the eligibility list is certified by the Human Resources Division. 

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Am I represented by a labor organization?
Most positions within the King County Sheriff’s Office are represented by a union or a guild. The following are the unions/guilds that represent Sheriff Office employees:

If you have any questions about union representation in the Sheriff’s Office, please call the KCSO Personnel Section at 206-205-7604.
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