After two terms in office, Skagit County Sheriff Will Reichardt announced this week that he won’t seek re-election.
“After much heartfelt contemplation and deliberation, I know that it is time for me to announce that I will not be seeking re-election this year as your sheriff,” he said in a letter emailed Wednesday to sheriff’s office staff and Thursday to the Skagit Valley Herald.
The announcement came on the 34th anniversary of his hiring with the sheriff’s office. He started as a corrections officer in 1984.
Reichardt, who was born and raised in Anacortes, was elected to his first term as sheriff in 2010.
“It is truly an honor and privilege to serve as the sheriff,” he said in the letter. “The opportunity to work with all of you has been an experience beyond what I could have ever dreamed or hoped for.”
Reichardt’s term runs through 2018.
Reichardt told the Skagit Valley Herald he decided to make the announcement now in order to give potential candidates time to plan their campaigns.
The deadline to apply for the November 2018 election is in May.
While he won’t seek re-election, Reichardt stressed that he isn’t entering retirement just yet.
“I don’t plan to be on some retirement countdown for the next 12 months,” he wrote. “There is still a lot of work to be done and goals to accomplish. I look forward to an interesting and challenging 2018 here at the (sheriff’s office) and our new Community Justice Center.”
Comments