- Welcome to the 2026 General Election Candidate Forums.

I'm Polly Parton, President of the League of Women Voters of Benton and Franklin Counties.

The League is a nonpartisan organization that neither supports nor opposes any candidate.

In presenting these forums, it is our goal to provide opportunities for voters to become better informed about the people who are running for public office.

These general election forums have been pre-recorded in person by Northwest Public Broadcasting at the WSU Tri-City Studio.

They will be available through November 3rd, election day, on NWPB, YouTube, the League's Facebook page, KTNW TV, and through the Columbia Basin Badger Club.

At this time, I would like to turn the program over to our moderator, Tracci Dial, multimedia news director at NWPB.

And remember, be a voter.

- Hello, and thank you for watching Northwest Public Broadcasting, and thank you to our partners with the League of Women Voters.

I'm Tracci Dial, and today we're continuing our Vote 2026 coverage looking at several races in Benton and Franklin Counties.

Our 2026 series aims to give our viewers complete and fair coverage of races happening in the Tri-Cities.

Today, we'll hear from candidates in Benton County.

Now to some general rules for today's debates, the candidates are aware of the setup.

We've got a series of questions, and these questions were gathered and compiled by the League of Women Voters of Benton and Franklin Counties, covering a variety of topics that are critical to these races.

Candidates are promised the following.

Equal opportunity to answer these within response time limits, and an equal number of times getting to go first with their response.

Because this is part of a one-hour TV program, as moderator, I may have to adjust times and add or remove questions as the program allows.

And with that, let's meet our candidates in the race for Benton County Sheriff.

This has been a position that's had a unique recent history.

The last real decision voters made was a 2021 recall of Jerry Hatcher.

And after a resignation in 2025, Mike Clark was appointed sheriff.

Now, Mr.

Clark is here in a contested race against Brad Klippert.

We want to thank you both for your time.

Now we're going to begin with opening statements.

Mr.

Clark, you are up first.

- So my name is Mike Clark.

I'm current sheriff for Benton County.

I worked for the sheriff's office for 23 years.

I began my career with corrections.

After a few years, I went over to the patrol side of things.

From there, I spent most of my career assigned to patrol.

I had a heavy involvement in SWAT, training, developing programs, cadre leads throughout there, and then promoted to corporal.

I was a supervisor on patrol for patrol squad for a while there as a corporal, then promoted up to a sergeant, and continued running a patrol squad.

After a few years of doing that, I was promoted to lieutenant and moved into the administration side of things and remained there until being appointed sheriff in 2025.

While I was the lieutenant, it really gave me an opportunity to understand a lot of the administrative roles, take on a lot of different things.

I did almost every position within the administration from running patrol division to special services, different programs, budgeting, fleet, implementation, program development, those types of things.

And then obviously, in the last year as the sheriff for Benton County, this has really given me an opportunity to grow the department, move it in the right direction, get our feet underneath us, and really start moving forward.

And so the last year has been very beneficial for the department in helping do that.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Mr.

Clark.

Mr.

Klippert, opening statement.

- Thank you, ma'am.

Hello everyone.

I am Brad Klippert.

I'm running for Benton County Sheriff.

Have just over 33 years of law enforcement experience.

Started in Pierce County in corrections, then went to patrol.

I have served in the state legislature for 14 years, currently serve in the Kennewick City Council and have been served in our army's forces for around 34 years, both in the Army Guard, Reserve, and deployed multiple times.

Why am I running for sheriff?

I'm running for sheriff because multiple of my fellow law enforcement officers in the Benton County Sheriff's Office have come to me and said, "Brad, we want you to run for sheriff."

And what were the reasons they gave me why they wanted me to run for sheriff?

Number one, they said that they wanted a return of integrity to the Benton County Sheriff's Office.

Number two, they said they wanted a return of morality to the Benton County Sheriff's Office.

And number three, they said, "You represent servant leadership.

You exemplify it.

We watch you.

You know how to serve others as you lead."

And so ladies and gentlemen, that is why I am running for the Benton County Sheriff's position because my fellow law enforcement officers, many of them, both current and those who have since retired, have come to me and said, "We want you to run.

We want you to be our next Benton County Sheriff, Brad Klippert."

So thank you very much.

- Thank you, Mr.

Klippert.

Now we'll begin with our questions today.

Mr.

Klippert, you will go first.

Automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs, are cameras that law enforcement is using all over the country, like Flock cameras.

And they are being used, the ALPRs, in Benton County.

So do you support their continued use or expansion?

And what limits would you put on the technology to protect citizens' privacy?

- I do support automatic license plate reader use.

It's a very useful tool that can be used to solve crimes and to catch suspects quicker than we could without them.

So are they a useful tool?

Yes.

Would we continue to use them?

Yes.

But we have to always remember that our citizens have constitutional rights, rights to privacy.

And if any Benton County citizen can ever come to me as sheriff and show me my constitutional rights are being violated by these automated license plate readers, we will address that situation and we will ensure that your constitutional rights are always protected.

So will I allow them to be used in Benton County?

Absolutely, yes.

They are a useful tool.

But your constitutional rights to privacy must always be protected.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Mr.

Klippert.

Mr.

Clark?

- So yeah, ALPRs.

We've had them since 2023.

I was actually the lead on that project for obtaining some grants that initially paid for those and then obviously securing funding within our budget for that.

Recently, we moved from our Axon, or from our Flock contract to Axon for a few different reasons, but the biggest thing is, to answer your question, is making sure that we have good policy and guardrails in place.

These are investigative tools.

They are not the end all be all to an investigation.

They do not provide us the ability to search for crimes.

What they are is they are a resource for our officers to go in and search for information and locate suspects, wanted vehicles, those types of things.

Whenever we do a search, it's governed by what we're allowed to search for.

Senate Bill 6002 was recently passed last year, and it laid out a lot of those guidelines that went right along and corresponded with policies in how we do those things.

And so we are not searching for crimes to be done.

What we are doing is we are searching in regard to a crime that has already been committed.

And so we're using it as a finite tool to search for those very specific individuals that, during the course of the investigation, we have already established probable cause or reasonable suspicion for these people.

And now we are trying to locate them and we are trying to obtain information about their whereabouts, maybe what vehicle they were in as far as different vehicles that go along with them, and using that for apprehension and bringing the suspect to custody.

- Thank you, Mr.

Clark.

Our next question goes to you first.

Law enforcement across the state are dealing with recruitment and retention challenges.

We know that.

So what strategies will you use to recruit, retain, and train qualified staff without overextending the budget?

- So one of the big things with our department is we are currently fully staffed with our patrol division.

It's something that I think is not necessarily unique to our department, but we have a luxury because of the culture that we've built and the morale and what we have inside our department.

People want to come to.

They want to stay there.

We have multiple, we have about seven people that are family members or multi-generational officers within our department.

And that's because their family members work there and they're like, "This is a good place to work."

We have people coming from other agencies.

We just hired a couple people from another agency here locally because they worked with our deputies and they're like, "That's what I want to do.

That's where I want to be.

That's the culture that I want."

And they left their department and we just recently hired them.

And so we've been really fortunate with that.

We provide some of the best equipment that we have, that we can, and we work really hard to make sure that they are outfitted with the equipment that they need, with the proper resources.

We're doing everything we can to make their jobs as efficient as possible to free up their time and not inundate them with all the backside stuff through the use of some technologies and other things.

And then just the culture and morale within the department, the camaraderie that we have within the department, I think speaks volumes for it.

And it really says a lot when your department is completely fully staffed because it speaks volumes for what the department has to offer.

And then same thing for the retention of not losing people to other departments.

We have almost nobody ever leave to go to a local department ever.

- [Tracci] Okay.

Thank you, Mr.

Clark.

Mr.

Klippert, and I can repeat any question.

- I think I got it.

Thank you.

So I was listening to talk radio one day when I was in my police car working, and I heard a physician say that medicine is relational, not transactional.

Wow, I grabbed onto that and I wrote it down in my notebook and I though law enforcement is relational, not transactional.

And how do I plan to recruit and retain great people in Benton County?

Build relationships.

It's amazing to me how many deputies have recently said to me that they're afraid to tell the truth about their true feelings because they're afraid of retaliation by the current administration.

That is not an environment that you want to work in.

It's actually quite toxic when deputies feel they cannot share their true feelings on a subject for fear of retaliation by the current administration.

So we're going to build relationships.

We're going to make deputies, or those who work for the Benton County Sheriff's Office, know that they're loved, that they're appreciated and they're highly valued.

And ladies and gentlemen, I don't know about you, but I give up a buck or two per hour to know that I'm loved, I'm appreciated, and I'm highly valued every day when I come to work.

Personally, I avoid the office, and so do a whole lot of other people because it's not a place where you go to where you go to get encouraged.

Generally when I go to the office, my supervisor pulls me aside and tells me how I need to improve.

So we're going to make sure that the people who work for the Benton County Sheriff's Office know that they're loved, they're appreciated, and they're highly valued.

- Thank you, Mr.

Klippert.

Question number three, you'll go first again.

There are a lot of essential agricultural and service workers in Eastern Washington and Benton County's population is about a quarter Latino.

Now, advocates have brought up concerns that local law enforcement cooperating with ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, can make immigrant communities reluctant to call 911 or report crimes at all.

How will your office ensure that all victims and witnesses feel safe coming forward regardless of legal status?

- Just yesterday I was working with a Spanish-speaking person and doing my very best to speak Spanish.

I told them I speak (speaking Spanish) but they appreciate that I tried to do that.

One of the things that I do is I visit families in their home.

On multiple occasions, I have gone to Spanish-speaking families in their homes and visited with them because I care about the situation in their family, in their lives.

So once again, not only do I build relationships in the office with the law enforcement officers that I work with, I build relationships in the community so that those community members get to know me as a person and they know that I know them as a person, that I am present in their lives, that I see them and that I value them as members in our community.

So when you build that trust, people are much more likely to call 911 and expect you to respond and trust your services.

It's so fun.

I have worked with young people for decades now, and to have their families call me out of concern for their young person, their son, their daughter, their child is just valuable because I built that trusting relationship with those parents.

They care about their kids, and they know that I care about their kids too.

So they call me and say, "Deputy Klippert, can you help me with this situation?"

And the same thing will be true in a broader perspective as sheriff in Benton County.

I will build those relationships with those members of our community so they trust law enforcement.

- [Tracci] Thank you.

- Can I get it one more time just to make sure I don't miss any points there?

- There are a lot of essential workers, agricultural and service workers in our area.

Benton County's population is about a quarter Latino, and advocates have brought up concerns that local law enforcement cooperating with ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, can make immigrant communities reluctant to call 911 or even report crimes.

So how will your office ensure that all victims and witnesses feel safe coming forward regardless of legal status?

- So the important thing to understand is we're governed by state laws, and they don't allow us to share that information with immigration.

They don't allow us to enforce the civil federal warrants.

And so the important thing to remember is we don't ask those questions.

We actually don't care about the answer to those questions because we're there to provide a service to the person that called 911 or the person that is in need.

And so it's really important to understand that we operate within those parameters.

We don't share information.

We can't share information with ICE.

We're governed by that.

And now we don't oversee the jail, but the jail operates in the same capacity.

They adhere to the same sets of rules.

And so I think that's the important thing to understand.

I know that there is a lot of national fear.

There's a lot of those types of things that we see things on the news, and I can understand the reluctancy to want to talk to law enforcement if you're in that situation.

But here in Washington, it's very important to understand that, and we abide by that, and it's been that way for years now.

Nobody from our office is asking those questions.

We don't call ICE.

We don't inform ICE of any arrest or anything that we do.

We don't inform them of the people that we're talking to for victims or witnesses or anything like that.

And we make sure that we stay well within those guidelines and those rules to make sure that we're providing a service where everybody feels safe, that they can call the police, that they can get the help that they're looking for and what they need in those situations.

- Thank you, Mr.

Clark.

You'll go first for this next question.

Besides the current training that staff receive, are there additional trainings that you think should be added or emphasized?

- So we're constantly looking for ways to expand our training.

One of the things that I did here recently was secure additional funding.

Our academy costs for new hire recruits has increased dramatically over the last few years.

And so next year, moving into the budget cycle, I've tried to secure it, and made some recommendations for, or requests I should say, for additional funding just to separate out the academy costs, and so that we can have full value of our training budget back to put into the officers that are already there, the officers that are currently working for us that need that career development training, that extended training, specialized training.

And so what our goal is, as we move forward, is to get those guys the training that they need for their career paths and better preparing people for moving into those positions.

So when you have an investigator that starts down that path and they want to continue to be an investigator, move into detectives, do those types of things, we want to make sure that they're prepared for that.

When we have our detectives that are there, those guys are there for as long as they want to be.

And so there are some that are career detectives, and making sure that those guys have the specialized equipment and the specialized training that they need because when you're dealing with those cases, the public deserves the best product possible.

And so that's making sure that you have somebody who has the experience, who has the training, who has the ability to provide the best service that we can.

And so we're going to continue to do that and we're going to continue to expand on those things.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Mr.

Clark.

Mr.

Klippert.

- Thank you, ma'am.

Having served in the state legislature for 14 years and been the ranking member in the Public Safety Committee for 10 of those years, there are multiple studies out there of what law enforcement needs in terms of training.

So it's important to be aware of those studies and to read them, and see what those who are studying the needs for training in law enforcement say that our law enforcement officers need.

But number one, number one above all, the best place to find out what additional training you need is to go to the law enforcement officer themselves.

Ask them what training do you feel you need to do your job better and to advance your career in the Benton County Sheriff's Office that you haven't received yet?

Ask them, listen to them.

They'll tell you what training they need.

There's a course that I've been asking for for years, that it's an extremely important part of our career, and I have not been sent to that course yet.

So number one thing is A, read the studies that are out there that are being done by very intelligent people.

And number two, ask the law enforcement officers, what training do you feel that you need to do your job better and to advance your career?

And the number two is I want to tell my training officers every time any of our officers come to your training, I want them to leave that training feeling like a champion, like they're an incredible person who's doing an incredible job.

Send them out with confidence.

Thank you.

- Thank you, Mr.

Klippert.

You'll go first for this next question.

The Tri-Cities, all the agencies here obviously rely heavily on cross-agency cooperation.

That includes Richland PD, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, the Drug Task Force.

So how do you plan to strengthen those regional task forces and address that cross-jurisdictional crime?

- It's one of my favorite topics.

Thank you very much.

I was asked to speak by Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs to all the police chiefs and the head of the Washington State Patrol, and WASPEC, and WACOPS in Olympia, and I gave them this speech.

It's a speech that comes from watching the movie Gladiator.

And in the movie Gladiator, Maximus, when he and his fellow Gladiators fight that first battle on the floor of the Coliseum, he says to his fellow Gladiators, "We have a better chance of winning this battle if we come together.

Come together, lock shields, fight as one.

Come together, lock shields, fight as one."

And I've given that speech multiple times to multiple law enforcement agencies and it's always been very well received.

And so that will be my message to each and every law enforcement agency in Benton County.

Let's come together, let's work together, let's fight as one, let's lock shields.

And when we do that, we will have a safer, stronger Benton County.

And I'm totally and completely looking forward to it because when we come together, it's a force multiplier and we're not all trying to do it ourselves and just being worried about just our jurisdiction, but when we reach out to the other jurisdictions and help our bordering law enforcement agencies, wow, what a difference that will make.

Working as a team together, we can do so much more than we can working separately, one and only one.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Mr.

Klippert.

Mr.

Clark.

- So again, these are the things that we're doing already.

We've had a longstanding relationship with all of our partners here locally.

I've personally grown up with most of the command staff, the chiefs, the sheriffs here within the region.

And so developing those personal relationships with all of your command staff and your administration is really important because that allows us to ask those favors, to understand what the needs are of the other departments, have that personal relationship to understand what those are.

I grew up, like I said, on doing a lot with the SWAT team.

That's a regional team.

We take people from all the different agencies.

We have numerous task forces that are exactly that.

It is comprised of all of our local assets and resources being pulled together.

One of the big things that we're trying to do is move that forward and expand that thought process.

And so one of the things we're looking at right now is brought up to the other local chiefs and sheriffs is doing a regional post academy so that we are not wasting everybody's time with instructors teaching the same thing, because our instructors throughout the region, we all teach the same stuff.

We all teach the same tactics.

We all have the same methodology behind a lot of the things that we do, and that's what makes us really good.

And that's actually what makes us great as a region, because I can go into Kennewick and operate and do exactly the same thing that they're doing.

Their guys come out and assist us on a regular basis.

I get asked that question more than anything.

"Why do I always see Kennewick cars in Pasco?

Or Pasco cars over here?

Or your cars over there?"

Because we work so well together, and we rely on each other so heavily for the manpower and the staffing to deal with problems that we can't staff alone with ourselves.

- And crime knows no boundaries.

Thank you both.

Mr.

Clark, you get the first question, or response on this question.

It's pretty common for folks to bounce around from agencies in the Tri-Cities.

So when they leave the Benton County Sheriff's Office, do you think about ways that, aside from base pay, but things like structural changes to shift scheduling, equipment, administrative transparency, or career pathing that with your leadership could be implemented so that deputies want to stay and maybe spend their entire careers at BCSO?

- Yeah, one of the important things to remember is, like I spoke about before, it's been I think seven years, six years since the last time that we had somebody leave to a local agency.

And Kennewick, Richland, they all pay more money.

And so again, it speaks volumes about our agency and what we're doing, but more importantly is exactly like you're talking about, is what do we have for career development?

What do we have?

And it's making sure that we have things that offer that career development, offer a rewarding career for these guys to look forward to, to see what they're doing.

I recently set out timelines and guidelines for all the different specialties to help with career path planning.

And that's really important for guys to look at it and be able to understand, okay, I got a couple things I want to do in my career before I really settle into detectives, or move into supervision, or do anything like that.

And being able to kind of path that out and understand what those timelines look like, what those durations are going to be, when I can transition in or out of places is really helpful for guys to plan that out.

We, again, the people that have left, they are usually leaving the state.

They're leaving for different career paths, different career changes, family, things like that.

And so it speaks volumes for what we've done because we went from being down 15 positions three, four, five years ago, to now being fully staffed and idling at fully staffed for quite a while now.

And so that's really important to understand and see what we're doing.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Mr.

Clark.

Mr.

Klippert.

- Thank you, ma'am.

So as I said before, people will stay where they feel they're loved, valued, and appreciated.

So once again, I'm going to build those relationships with every single member of the Benton County Sheriff's Office, commissioned and non-commissioned.

I plan on getting together with each and every one of them individually, and with their loved one or their spouse and sitting down with them, maybe over a cup of coffee, maybe over lunch, maybe over dinner, maybe in their car on patrol, and finding out what are your dreams, what are your aspirations, what do you want to do in the Benton County Sheriff's Office?

How can I help you reach your goals?

Maybe it's higher education.

I pursued my education while I was a deputy and got all the way up to a master's degree, and am talking to Liberty University and working on a doctoral degree.

So getting together with those individual employees of the Benton County Sheriff's Office and their loved ones and find out how's it going in your family?

How are your kids?

How's your health?

How can I be a blessing to you?

Tell me about your dreams and your aspirations.

Tell me how I can help you reach your goals and make sure every day, every time I see them, that they know how much I love them, how much I appreciate them, and how much they are valued by this department.

It's so fun.

Now guys are coming up to me and say, "Love you, Brad," and/or giving me the man hug that I usually give to them.

So it's fun building those relationships and making sure they know that they're valued, they're loved, and they're appreciated.

- Thank you, Mr.

Klippert.

Now you guys are out of the hot seat.

This last one's for you.

If there's any topics that you wish we would've covered, closing statements is a great time for that.

So each of you get one minute, 30 seconds for closing statements.

Mr.

Klippert, you'll go first.

- Thank you, ma'am.

Ladies and gentlemen, I've worked in law enforcement for over 33 years, been with the Benton County Sheriff's Office for over 27 now.

I served in their uniform military services as a leader for over 30 years.

My last job was Full Bird Colonel Commander of the Washington State Guard.

I've commanded troops in multiple nations, in multiple states, so I have the leadership ability and experience and proven leadership behind me.

The one thing that really separates Mike and I is Mike wrote a statement in our Benton County Sheriff's Office newsletter in June that says, "My goal to keep moving the department forward through the use of modern technology remains a priority."

Under my administration, will we use modern technology?

Absolutely positively, yes, but it will not be the priority.

We will personalize law enforcement, not digitalize law enforcement.

We had a debate last Thursday in Procert, and I was shocked and horrid when I heard Mike say that people are too expensive.

We're going to invest our dollars into modern technology, and I couldn't believe my ears.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to invest in people.

When you call 911, you don't want a digital or a computer program showing up at your door.

You want a loving, caring, strong law enforcement officer, and that's where I'm going to invest my dollars.

You don't want Robocop, you want a person who cares about you and your situation.

That's where I'll invest my time, that's where I'll invest our dollars as your sheriff.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Mr.

Klippert.

Mr.

Clark?

- So yeah, as Brad mentioned, technology is a big push, and it's really important to understand that when we talk about that, the cost of technology is a fraction of what a single employee would cost.

And so it's not that our people are not worth anything to us, it's really about using technology to free up their time.

It's not about digitalizing it.

We're not going to have robots show up to the door.

It's about using software and programs that make a better response, better inform our officers, and are a resource to them to help free up their time so that they can do the things that they need to do, so that they can be available for the calls for service, so that the calls aren't sitting there pending, so that they can be available for proactive work, so they can be available to be out there contacting people the way that we want them to do things, the way that we expect them to.

That's why you see all the engagement on our social media with utilizing our foundation.

That's what we want from our officers.

That's what we expect from them, and that's what they've grown to do.

And so the department's doing really well there.

We're going to go ahead and use technology free up their spare time, or free up and give them some more spare time and utilize that in our advantage.

The department, you know, we've done a lot of things.

We've changed a lot of things over the last year, and so it's really moving in the right direction.

Guys constantly come and they're like, "Hey, we're happy with where things are going.

We like the direction that we're going."

That open door policy, really utilizing that, and really providing the best service that we can "Hey, we're happy with where things are going.

to the community and moving forward.

- Thank you very much.

And thank you both for your time.

That does it for our race for Benton County Sheriff.

Again, thank you to Mike Clark and Brad Klippert for being here.

- Next up, the race for Benton County District Court Judge 1.

The candidates vying for the job are Michael Rio and Talesha Sams.

One of them will join the six-person bench taking over for Judge Terry Tanner who's been in the seat for 17 years.

Today, we'll begin with opening statements from each of you.

Mr.

Rio, you will go first.

- Good morning.

Thank you.

Thank you to the League of Women Voters and to the voters of Benton County for having us here.

We're at a time when we have the opportunity to take over for a judge who's been in district court for a long time.

I've practiced in front of Judge Tanner for the past 17 years.

I've been a district court attorney for the past 24 years.

I've done work in Spokane County, in Benton County, in Franklin County, Walla Walla County, and Adams County.

For the past 20-plus years, I have spent just about every day of my career in district court prosecuting the kind of crimes that appear before a district court judge.

I've argued the motions, I've argued the appeals.

I've argued the kind of cases that I would hear as a district court judge.

I promise to be fair but to be firm and to use my experience to make the right decisions.

For those people who are coming into court and they are brand new to the system, those are the kind of folks that we want to give opportunities to, to make changes to, do therapeutic courts and to make changes in our lives.

For those people who continue to commit crimes in our communities, we want to hold them accountable.

We want to get them help, but we want to also have them reimburse the citizens of this county for the crimes committed and to hold them accountable and to make our community safer.

Those are the things I promise to do as a district court judge.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Mr.

Rio.

Ms.

Sams, your opening statement.

- Sure.

I appreciate this opportunity to answer these questions for the public so they make a judgment as such.

I've been an attorney for over 25 years.

I've done pretty much every bit of law.

I've done administrative, criminal and civil law.

I had my own practice when I first got out of law school in Spokane.

I was a deputy prosecutor in Adams County.

And I currently work with Adult Protective Services prosecuting individuals who have abused vulnerable adults.

As far as my experience, as I said, I've done this for 25 years.

I pretty much practice every area of law there is.

I'd also add that in addition to civil practice, criminal practice, that I was a district court judge pro tem for King County District Court for four years.

I feel that based on my experience and not only in the court, but as an attorney, that I would be a perfect fit for this position.

I treat everyone equal and regardless of their economic or social background.

I'm very unbiased.

I think the judge should show fairness, not being biased and empathy too because everyone deserves a chance before the court to hear, be justice.

- Thank you, Ms.

Sams.

Mr.

Rio, the first question goes to you.

This is in response to concerns about the effectiveness and fairness of the justice system.

How do you maintain impartiality and work to assure public trust and confidence in what you do?

- To impart that impartiality or to show that to the community, a judge has to be fair and to listen to both sides.

They can't come into a case with predetermined notions of the law or the facts, and they have to allow the parties to provide that information to the court.

What is the law?

What are the facts that apply to that law?

What are the constitutional provisions?

And to give an equal opportunity for both parties, regardless of the judge's personal opinion about the case before them, and then make a decision only after fully, fairly considering all of those things.

I think a lot of folks come into the court system and they feel like it's not fair either because they weren't heard or they didn't get an opportunity to say everything that they want to say.

As a district court judge, within the bounds of time, I will give people the opportunity to present their case, to present their side of both the facts and how those facts apply to the law and then make a fair decision.

That doesn't mean that you can make everyone happy.

Sometimes when you make a decision as a judge, one of the parties or sometimes both of the parties are not happy with the decision that the court makes.

But if you listen and you fairly consider all of the facts and the law as it applies to that facts, I think that you can establish a situation where people have faith in not only the justice system, but in the judges who make the decisions.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Mr.

Rios.

And I can repeat any questions, Ms.

Sams- - If you can repeat it, please.

- Absolutely.

This is in response to concerns about the effectiveness and fairness of the justice system.

How do you maintain impartiality and work to assure public trust and confidence in what you do?

- I think it's a district court judge, it's the responsibility of the judge to conduct a courtroom in a manner that offers safety and administers justice in an equitable manner.

I believe that's based on looking up your case law, looking up your statutes, making decision and explaining to the party too why you came to the decision that you did.

It's very important that a judge not show personal feelings, bias, anything in that respect and give them the opportunity to present their evidence and tell their side of the case.

Like my opponent said that any case that comes before a district court judge, someone's not going to be happy, but you're not there to make everyone happy.

You're there to administer justice.

I also think it's very important that as a judge that you lead by example, meaning that sometimes the way you conduct yourself in the courtroom or outside the courtroom is very important.

It demonstrates that if you make personal sacrifices, present yourself in a manner that seems that you're fair, it has a big impression upon people coming in your courtroom.

And I think that's very important for a judge to do.

I think there's oftentimes there's certain barriers when people come before the judge, such as a language or their culture.

I think it's very important to show empathy and understanding of that culture when you're administering justice.

- Thank you, Ms.

Sams.

This next question goes to you first.

How do you plan to ensure fairness, impartiality and equity for all who come before you regardless of their background, including race, economics, culture, religion?

- I think the best way is to, to not push any personal agenda that the judge may have.

You can draw on experience from your life as long as it is applicable through the law.

I think as I've previously stated, you need to be sensitive of the cultures and show empathy and listen to them and not make your mind up ahead of time so that they have a fair chance for their case to be heard.

I also think it's very important that, when you make a decision, that you explain what law and what facts you base it on and then how you came to the conclusion that you did.

Some people will always be, you know, think it's unfair and stuff, but I think it's very important that if you can present yourself the best way you can as being unbiased and showing empathy towards their situation and listening to the facts and not making a decision ahead of time, I think that you're able to administer justice.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Ms.

Sams.

Mr.

Rio?

- A lot of the folks that come before a court, especially in a situation like a civil case in a district court, they're unrepresented.

And so the court has to balance between being a neutral arbiter and helping in the sense of helping folks understand the process, understand the ruling and understand the way that the court got from hearing the facts and applying the law to the decision that it makes.

And I think it's very important under the Judicial Canons 2.2, there's a non-exhaustive list that talks about how judges should go about doing that, making sure that they don't give one party an advantage over the other but simply talking to the parties, explaining the process, giving them a roadmap of this is where we're going, these are the steps we're going to take, this is how we expect evidence to be admitted into court and how we expect testimony, decorum in the courtroom, et cetera.

So I think a judge can spend a lot of time, regardless of someone's background, their ethnicity, their language barriers, through an interpreter, you can spend the time to get people to understand the process and help them feel comfortable in the process before you proceed.

So I think it's very important for a judge to take that time and to walk through those things so that the litigants can understand the process.

And additionally, that a judge does not take sides, they listen and then they make their decision and their personal opinions don't affect the outcome of the case.

- Thank you, Mr.

Rio.

Question number three will go to you first.

Voters in Benton County are curious to hear a little more about your experience with the justice system here.

Can you talk about that experience referencing, if you can, a case that you've been involved with in the county and what was your role in the outcome?

- Thank you.

Yes, my experience started in both Benton and Franklin Counties in 2005.

I was hired to be a prosecutor in both Pasco Municipal Court and Benton County District Court.

So I have spent a bulk of my career more than 21 years practicing in Benton County, practicing prosecuting cases for the cities of Richland and West Richland, and later on the city of Prosser.

My experience in that time has given me, I think, a very focused experience.

And what I mean by that is I have done all of the kinds of things that a judge will be listening to in a courtroom.

One of the things I think I can talk about is a case that we had when we were waiting for a decision in State versus Baird, which was a breath test case from the Washington Supreme Court.

And the question there affected whether we were going to need a search warrant for breath tests.

What I asked the local law enforcement agencies to do was start doing search warrants for blood because we didn't know if a breath test would be admissible or not.

We took then cases up because a defense attorney challenged the idea that you had to offer a breath test first and then, only then could you get a blood warrant.

The Washington Supreme Court rejected that and the decision to do that was upheld, and what it did was allowed for us to have good evidence going forward while we were waiting for the Supreme Court to make their decision.

- [Tracci] Thank you.

Ms.

Sams?

- Can you repeat the question please?

- Absolutely.

Voters in Benton County are curious to hear a little more about your experience with the justice system here.

Can you talk about that experience and reference, if you can, a case that you were involved in and what your role was with that outcome?

- Yes, a case that comes to mind is when I was a prosecutor for Adams County was oftentimes you would, I'd say 90% of the cases you would negotiate a outcome instead of going to trial.

Oftentimes, once the terms of the negotiation were read into the record by the judge, it was end of their case.

I also saw where the defendants would like to explain their side, even though they pled guilty.

And I've seen some courts that just don't allow that.

They say, "No, it's over, so we're done with."

I took the time to let them explain themselves and I found that they were, even if it was against them, they were more comfortable with the outcome of their cases if they had an opportunity to be heard.

And I think that's very important in district court that each litigant is given the opportunity to be heard.

It's when they're cut off or the judge expresses anger or whatever that they're done hearing it.

I think it's very important that the defendants or the parties are allowed to explain their side of the story, even if the outcomes are to be certain on that.

I think my experience with the justice system, like I said, I've been all areas of law and they vary somewhat, but it all goes back to knowing the law based on the statutes, your experience and administering justice as a result.

- Thank you, Ms.

Sams.

And you'll go first for question four.

Does precedent in previous states and/or local cases play into those that may come before you in Benton County?

If so, how?

- I believe that when you're looking at previous cases that may have a bearing on the case before you, you look at district court cases.

If you can't find something in that area, you can look at superior court.

And at some point if there's nothing there, you can also go by federal court rulings.

Now each state has their own set of rules and such.

A particular case decided away in another state may not have precedent value, but it can be persuasive at times if it's a new area of law that's being covered.

I think it's very important as a judge to look at those other cases, even if you're not going to apply it in the case before you.

So it gives you a better idea of how the law is and how it looks so forth.

There are certain rights that the states have when it comes to court and stuff and certain offenses, criminal-wise, that automatically get dumped over in the federal way.

And there's some that are charged for the same crime in federal court and state court.

But I think it's very important to, you know, apply the state court rules and cases first and go that route.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Ms.

Sams.

Mr.

Rio?

- Could you read the question one more time please?

- Absolutely.

Does precedent in previous states and/or national cases play into those that may come before you in Benton County?

If so, how?

- So courts, appellate courts and appellate court decisions do come before a district court in that they are maybe binding precedent, whether it's the United States Supreme Court, the Washington Supreme Court, or Division III of the Court of Appeals.

The other divisions in Washington would be not binding precedent but would be persuasive precedent before the court.

And so the court has to look at first the case before it.

Is it a binding precedent or is it a persuasive precedent?

There are times when you have a case.

I had a case that went to the Washington Supreme Court, the decision came down and then later on the United States Supreme Court in a case out of Massachusetts overturned Washington's decision in that case.

So there are many ways that the precedent of courts above affect how a court, a district court judge would make a decision.

Additionally, I think what you do in other cases has to be something that plays into what you do in the case before you.

And that's being fair and impartial, meaning you can't do something in one case and then treat somebody who's similarly situated very differently.

And so it's not binding precedent, it's not even persuasive, but it's certainly a personal precedent that you're going to set for yourself as a judge to say, "I'm going to treat similarly situated people the same and I'm not going to take consideration of their background or whether they have a privately hired attorney or what their economic background is."

So those are the things that we would take into account.

- Thank you, Mr.

Rio.

And you will go first for this next question.

If you're successful in this race, one of you will be, what new ideas or processes would you like to implement?

Are there any changes to the judicial process for which you would advocate?

- Certainly.

Coming into this, I think it's important that judges set good examples.

And as a judge, I want to make certain that the dockets and the cases that we hear are heard on time.

What I've noticed over the years is there are some times you come into court and there is just a complete lag in the amount of time it takes for a docket to start.

And there are people that get upset.

They're wondering, "Why is my time not important?

Why is the court not taking the time to make sure that my time is important?"

And so as a judge, my expectation of myself will be to be on time, to hear cases in a timely manner and to get people on their way.

There's no reason for folks to come to court and sit for half of an afternoon waiting for a judge to take the bench.

So that is something that I promise to do is to be on time and to take the bench and hear those cases in that manner.

Additionally, I think it's important that we continue to have therapeutic courts and courts where people can use treatment to change and make positive changes in their lives.

One of the things that I've supported is the Recovery Navigator Program.

I was there last Friday for the graduation and to see people come in, graduate, make positive changes to their lives, I'll continue to support those things as a district court judge.

- Thank you, Mr.

Rio.

Ms.

Sams, if you're successful in this race, what new ideas or processes would you like to implement?

Are there any changes to the judicial process for which you'd advocate?

- I think one of the biggest areas that I would push for is the therapeutic courts.

I am a mentor for the veterans court, which I appear with a veteran that's entered into that system in court so they don't have to face the judge alone.

I've seen it be very successful.

Some of these people would just be locked away for the crimes, but if they're willing to work and put an effort into it, it's much more successful.

People tend to have the idea that when people are punished in court that they deserve their punishment, where it's actually more of a rehabilitation.

And I believe that not only with the veterans court, the mental health and the recovery court, that if you're able to get people in there and support them and help them go through that and they clean their lives up, they can be a productive member of society.

I would really push on that.

I think there needs to be more involvement by attorneys and even judges from that respect to make those particular courts important.

- Thank you, Ms.

Sams.

You'll go first for this next question.

What do you see as your biggest challenge as a district court judge?

- I think the biggest challenge is going to be just the volume of cases.

When I was a district court judge in King County District Court, the volume of cases was tremendous.

It's a much larger area than Benton County.

And I think that that was a, you know, advantage or asset I would have in this situation being the judge is that Benton County's a little less busy than King County.

And I think that experience would play big time into being able to rule in these cases.

But I think the biggest challenge is going to be the volume of cases.

And like my opponent said, sometimes these get continued and continued and it kind of weighs between the litigant's rights and the due process.

I think the sooner you get a case heard and resolved, the better it is.

No one likes to have their cases continued out over and over and such.

So I think just the volume of the cases is going to be the biggest challenge.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Ms.

Sams.

Mr.

Rio?

- I think the biggest challenge that faces a district court judge is the lack of attorneys we have in the state of Washington, whether it's on the prosecution side or on the defense side.

We're at a time when we're struggling to fill seats in both arenas.

We are having a difficulty with finding enough qualified attorneys to do cases, especially on the defense side.

And so it's been very difficult as a prosecutor, and I expect it will be similarly difficult as a judge to see cases come in where you're having a difficulty in just the sheer volume of cases that could be charged and whether the court can handle those with the lack of resources that the court has.

And what I mean by that resources, when someone comes before the court and they're saying, "I can't afford an attorney, and I'm entitled to an attorney under the constitutional provisions of the state, I want my attorney, but there isn't someone to appoint."

And so I think it's going to be very important for the court to manage cases, to explain again to the litigants how the process works and what the process will be for them to get an attorney, to get in touch with the Office of Public Defense.

And then to make sure, as the judge in the case, is the Office of Public Defense reaching out to these people?

Have they been having contact?

Are they being giving information?

Because again, when people come to court and they lack information, people get upset and it really slows down the process.

And rightly so, we need to make sure that we're better at that.

- Thank you, Mr.

Rio.

All right, time for closing statements.

We're giving you candidates the opportunity to cover any topic we may have missed with the closing statement.

As with the rest of today's questions, we will keep this at 90 seconds.

Ms.

Sams, you get the opportunity first here.

- Thank you.

I've dedicated my life to public service in every aspect.

After high school, I enlisted in the military for four years, served in peace time and combat.

After the military, I worked as a nurse and respiratory therapist at a local hospital in Walla Walla.

And then after that I went to law school.

I've worked as a prosecutor, I've worked as a public defender, worked as a judge, and pretty much worked every area with all sorts of experience.

What I think is very important is that attorneys get involved in these cases.

As my opponent says, there's not enough attorneys that take pro bono cases.

I put in well over 105 hours each year of pro bono work.

I take criminal cases, civil cases, landlord, tenant and such, because I believe that these people who can't afford an attorney need to be properly represented when they're in court regardless.

A lot of rewards aren't, (clears throat) excuse me, a lot of rewards aren't just monetary.

Seeing the expression on the person that someone stood up for them is quite rewarding by itself.

I feel that based on all my experience and my time as an attorney, that I would be very qualified for this position.

And I would look forward to being able to serve the community of Benton County.

- [Tracci] Thank you, Ms.

Sams.

Mr.

Rio?

- Thank you.

I want to thank my opponent.

I want to thank the voters of Benton County and the League of Women Voters for the opportunity today.

I've been a prosecutor for the last 21 years here in Benton County.

I've spent day after day in district court arguing, litigating the cases that will come before me as a district court judge.

It's important for me to move forward with my experience and my education, my knowledge of this system to help people have a better outcome and a better experience.

The system is having troubles.

We have a system right now where the Office of the Administration of Courts has just rolled out a new system called Enterprise Justice.

And Enterprise Justice has been very difficult.

It has taken things that used to be very easy to get information and now it's very hard to get that same information.

It's making it more difficult for judges, for prosecutors, for defense attorneys.

Judges are going to have to be very educated in the new system and how to get that information, because in a DUI plea, missing somebody's prior criminal history might mean that they don't get sentenced the way the courts or the statute requires.

So we need people who have experience in district court doing that job day in and day out, and I'm that candidate.

I want to thank my wife for supporting me in this endeavor.

It's been difficult, but it's been very rewarding.

I've met a lot of great people here in Benton County, and I thank you for the opportunity, and I look forward to serving as your next district court judge.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

Ms.

Sams, Mr.

Rio, thank you again for your time and for being here.

And thank you to everyone who's watching this program.

For those watching on TV, stay tuned for more NWPB "Vote 2026" coverage.

These same positions are up for grabs in Franklin County.

We'll hear from sheriff and district judge candidates in our next hour of coverage.

And I want to use some of our closing time to address some key dates and deadlines ahead of this election.

October 16th is the beginning of Washington's 18-day voting period.

If you still need to register for mail-in voting, that deadline is October 26th.

You can register in person through election day.

That's on November 3rd.

Ballot boxes close that day at 8:00 PM.

We do have plenty more coverage at nwpv.org and Northwest Public Broadcasting on YouTube.

There you can find our recent debates with candidates from both the fourth and fifth congressional districts in Washington.

And thank you to our collaborators with the League of Women Voters, our crew here at NWPB, and all of you watching.