Morris appointed acting Sheriff; office participates in Operation Hopscotch

EAST WENATCHEE – Douglas County Undersheriff Kevin Morris assumed the post of acting Douglas County Sheriff effective July 1 to fill the vacancy of Sheriff Harvey Gjesdal who retired on June 30.

A media release from Douglas County Records and Risk Manager, Jordyn Giulio said the Douglas County Board of Commissioners appointed Morris to fill Gjesdal’s position pending the announcement of a permanent replacement expected in about a week. By state law the Douglas County Republican Central Committee (RCC) nominates candidates from which the Douglas County Commissioners choose the new sheriff. The RCC interviewed candidates for the post on June 23. The commissioners in turn are scheduled to select the law enforcement officer to complete Gjesdal’s unexpired six-month term by resolution on Monday, July 9.

Gjesdal announced his retirement last fall and later accelerated the date from the end of 2018 to June 30. It was Gjesdal’s third term in office after an 11-year career as the head of the department.

Operation Hopscotch

Douglas County has 22 fewer violent offenders on its streets thanks to the Sheriff’s Office participation in multi-agency effort last June that rounded up suspects in three counties.

The nine-day exercise, called Operation Hopscotch included federal, state, county, and city agencies from Douglas, Chelan and Grant counties. The operation led by the U.S. Marshal Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force spent three days in each county and arrested 62 violent offenders with active warrants. The arrests were divided between Douglas County with 22, Grant County with 21, and Chelan County with 19.

Law enforcement agents also recovered approximately 180 grams of methamphetamine and $2,000 in counterfeit U.S. currency.

Douglas County’s recently completed Evidence Storage Building in East Wenatchee hosted the U.S. Marshals during the Douglas and Chelan county phases of Operation Hopscotch.

“Utilizing the new facility as the staging location for both phases allowed for increased operational efficiency, decreased set up time, and improved cross-jurisdictional coordination,” Giulio wrote.