| Sheriff Sue Rahr was elected King County’s first female Sheriff in November 2005. As King County Sheriff, she is the chief law enforcement officer of Washington State’s largest metropolitan county, which spans more than 2,100 square miles and ranks the nation’s 13th most populous county with more than 1.8 million citizens. As the head of the state’s second largest local police department, Sheriff Rahr oversees nearly 1,100 employees and a budget of $117 million. Sheriff Rahr has built a career dedicated to making King County a safe and secure community for county residents. In her 28 years with the King County Sheriff’s Office, she was responsible for the development and implementation of gang and sexual assault units, the formation of the Sheriff’s Police Activities League, and the Sheriff’s Office Party Patrol Program to prevent underage drinking and driving. She established the monthly Crime Stats Program to encourage data-driven enforcement, intervention and prevention, and re-positioned the KCSO with its current core values, vision, and mission. She oversees 12 municipal law enforcement contracts and provides tailored urban and rural police services to King County Metro Transit, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, King County International Airport, as well as numerous school districts and community storefronts. Sheriff Rahr has taken a leadership role in many regional issues. Notable was her creation of the statewide Mental Health Summit, which brought together 200 participants in law enforcement, courts, prosecutors, jails, mental health, and substance abuse arenas to discuss intervention alternatives for mentally ill offenders and people with co-occurring disorders. In addition, she hosted the Washington State Pacific Rim Meth Summit, which brought together dozens of government, private, and nonprofit organizations that share the common interest of combating methamphetamine use, importation, and production in our region. This shared approach to problem solving comes from Sheriff Rahr’s belief that solutions to some of our regions biggest public safety concerns come not only from appropriate law enforcement strategies, but collaboration and planning with community, government, and private agencies. "Effective policing comes not only from a solid foundation of police work," says Rahr, "but also through the building of strong partnerships with citizens, other law enforcement or criminal justice agencies, nonprofits, and public officials." Hired by KCSO in 1979, Sheriff Rahr was one of the first female patrol officers and started working in a single-officer car where the closest backup was 15 minutes away. After five years at Precincts Two and Three and undercover narcotics, she was promoted to sergeant in 1984, when she supervised Precinct Four patrol and the Burglary/Larceny and Proactive units. Six years later, she was promoted to operations lieutenant at Precinct Three. Later, she served as commander of the Internal Investigations and Gang Units and the Special Investigations Section. She was promoted to major of Precinct Two in 1997, and was selected to be the police chief for Shoreline in 1998. She was chief of the Sheriff's Office Field Operations Division for four years before being appointed to replace outgoing Sheriff Dave Reichert in January 2005. Ten months later, she was elected by the citizens of King County to serve as Sheriff with 76 percent of the votes cast. Rahr was born in Laramie, Wyoming, and moved to Bellevue when she was 5 years old. She graduated from Newport High School and put herself through Washington State University where she graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a minor in sociology. Rahr is a sister to six brothers, and says that her place in the family has influenced her leadership style.
"I couldn't overpower them, so I had to find solutions that gave us something for everyone. Of course, it also taught me to be tough when I need to be," says Rahr.
Sheriff Rahr has been married to her high school sweetheart, Bill Rahr, a local high school teacher, for 27 years. They have two college-age sons, Billy and Peter. Her Intergovernmental Work - King County Regional Law Safety & Justice Committee member
- King County Police Chief’s Association member
- King County Criminal Justice Council member
- Washington Association of Sheriff’s and Police Chiefs executive board member
- King County Domestic Violence Council board member
- National Sheriffs’ Association executive board member
- National Association of School Resource Officers, Inc. executive board member
Her Civic Involvement - Executive Board member of Scoutreach—a Boy Scouts of America program for minority youth
- United Way board member
- Committee to End Homelessness member
- King County Boys & Girls Club supporter
- Eastside Domestic Violence Council supporter
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