Mason County covers approximately 1,051 square miles including 92 square miles of water, and includes Hood Canal, Puget Sound, approximately 200 lakes, the Olympic National Forest/Park, two state prisons, 13 schools, numerous scattered communities, and is surrounded by more than 1.3 million people that often recreate in our county. The Mason County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) is responsible for all of Mason County including support as needed within the city limits of Shelton.

Washington State, for 13 years running, has had the lowest number of law enforcement officers per 1000 citizens in the United States. The average is 2.3 officers per 1000 in the US and 1.3 in Washington. The MCSO has approximately .87 deputies per 1000 citizens.

Our deputies respond to an average of 24,000 calls for service per year. The number of calls on any given day can fluctuate from 60-200. With 5-7 deputies covering the entire area and that call volume, we are often delayed in our response to non-life-threatening calls. Our patrol supervisors must prioritize calls and place the response to crimes against persons above crimes against property.

Throughout the state, agencies are struggling to hire both patrol and corrections deputies. As such, we often compete with other agencies to hire from a small pool of qualified applicants. Our surrounding counties are much bigger with a bigger tax base and most often, offer higher wages. What draws applicants to MCSO is our quality of life, our community support, and our family culture.

Patrol Deputy Recruiting Video

We are a Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs accredited, full-service Sheriff’s Office. We take pride in what we do. We work together to provide excellent community service with a combination of vision and hard work and have a reputation for getting things done. We are proud of our community and its citizens.

Our story began in 1854, thirty-five years before Washington became a state. View the Timeline History of the Mason County Sheriff’s Office