The Kitsap County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to enact Ordinance 651-2026, establishing a one-tenth of one percent regional justice sales and use tax to fund countywide public safety, court operations, and detention services.
Board Chair Oran Root emphasized during public remarks that the decision was necessary to maintain critical emergency operations, noting that the legislative authority provided a predictable financing vehicle to protect families and assist crime victims throughout Kitsap communities.
Sheriff Dickinson Warns Layoffs Would Cripple Regional Patrol Ranks Interim Sheriff Kenneth Dickinson delivered detailed testimony outlining the direct operational consequences confronting the Kitsap County Sheriff Office without the implementation of the sales tax.
Jail Chief Penelope Sapp noted in public testimony that the county is bound by state and federal constitutional standards to deliver comprehensive 24-hour medical, dental, and psychiatric care to all incarcerated individuals.
Instead, every dollar collected must be audited and spent on eligible criminal justice activities, such as jail operations, courthouse security, prosecutor operations, public defense representation, and evidence-based re-entry programs.
Kitsap County commissioners approved Ordinance 651-2026 to implement a 0.1% criminal justice sales tax and established Fund 126, averting mandatory layoffs of sheriff deputies and jail staff ahead of a $9.4 million deficit.