By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – One way or the other, there’s going to be a new Sheriff in town next year. Sheriff Bill Benedict has formally announced that he is retiring at the end of this year.
“Put that in your article that I have formally announced that I am going to retire December 31st, 2022. 16 years of being Sheriff, it’s time for me to retire.”
Two candidates have filed to run for Sheriff so far. They are the Sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King and Deputy Marc Titterness.
The 45-year-old Titterness, who filed in December, has been with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office since 2011. He moved here from Kansas City, where he was Deputy Sheriff of Wyandotte County, for a total of 16 years in law enforcement and criminal justice. He also works at the Jamestown Justice Center as the Tribal Liaison for Clallam County and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.
“I believe we’ve got a pretty good working relationship with the Jamestown Tribe. I know both the Tribe and the department both have their own priorities, and that’s kind of where I fit in, is trying to bring those priorities together.”
Deputy Titterness says when he moved his family to Port Angeles 11 years ago, he didn’t have to worry about locking his door or leaving his key in the car. Since then, he says, things have changed.
“Over the last 10 years, you know, that public safety has just eroded away. And and I believe everybody deserves to live, work, raise their families or retire in a safe community. And I believe the Sheriff’s Office can do a lot to improve that and to improve that public safety.”
Titterness thinks part of the problem is that the Sheriff’s Office is experiencing a staffing crisis, with 4 open positions on patrol and 7 open positions at the jail. Does he see that as a funding issue?
“Absolutely not. No. Last year we gave back, I believe Bill mentioned we gave back a half a million dollars last year. “Speaking to, you know, a few other people in our administration, every year they give back a quarter million to half a million dollars every year at the end of the year. That money that they’re given back at the end of the year is largely coming from positions that are unfilled. You know, we have so many positions that are funded right now, and we just don’t have the staff to fill them.”
Titterness believes the reason they can’t fill those positions is because joining law enforcement has become less popular than it was even 10 years ago, and he wants to put a greater emphasis on recruiting strong candidates, starting in our own back yard.
“When was the last time we saw advertisements for Clallam County Sheriff’s Office hiring? It’s just not knowledge in the community. They don’t know that we have these positions available. And that’s what we got to do is, get out there and let them know.”
As we said, Deputy Titterness will be facing off in the election for Sheriff against Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King, and we’ll be speaking with him later this week.
Photo: Marc Titterness (right) recieves 2019 Commendation Award from Sheriff Bill Benedict.