She graduated from Newport High School in 1975 and then put herself through Washington State University where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and a minor in Sociology. Her goal was to attend law school.

Sue entered police work with the goal of earning money for law school. Once she got a taste of police work, she never left. She was one of the first women hired to work as a regular patrol officer. She started working in a single-officer patrol car in 1979.

After a 31-year career rising through the ranks of the King County Sheriff’s Office, Sue became the first woman Sheriff in King County history. As Sheriff, she oversees a department of nearly 1,100 employees and a $150 million budget in a county that spans more than 2,500 square miles.

A no-nonsense cop, Sue has worked a variety of assignments including: undercover narcotics, sexual assault, gang unit, and patrol operations. As Sheriff, she works to find the resources and political support to address difficult public safety issues from dealing with gang crime to offenders with a mental illness.

She is working with Microsoft and other technology partners to use electronic communication to create community networks to improve public safety by building “connected” neighborhoods that are fully engaged with law enforcement.

In addition to Sue’s career in law enforcement, she is also a wife and mother. She has been married for 31 years to Bill Rahr, a local high school teacher. They have two adult sons, Billy, an engineer, and Peter, a film editor.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• Spent her 31 year law enforcement career with the King County Sheriff’s Office
• Elected Sheriff in 2005 with a 77 percent majority; she was re-elected in 2009 with no opposition.
• President-Elect of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (will assume office in May)
• Commissioner, Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission
• Executive Board member of the National Sheriffs Association
• Member of the Major County Sheriffs Association
• Executive Board member of Scoutreach—a Boy Scouts of America program for minority youth
• Board of Directors member for United Way of King County
• Board of Directors for “Year Up” - a youth education and job placement program.
• Championed Greater King County Police Activities League and expanded the School Resource Officer program to create effective prevention and intervention programs to reduce youth violence
• Former Chair of the King County Regional Law Safety & Justice Committee
• Former Co-Chair of the Mental Illness and Drug Dependency Oversight Committee

• Governing Board member of Committee to End Homelessness