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The San Juan County Sheriff's Office is a law enforcement agency in San Juan County, Washington.
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Operations
The sheriff's office is responsible for maintaining the county jail, providing security at the San Juan County Superior Court, serving civil processes, coordinating emergency management among the county's emergency services, and maintaining law and order throughout the county (there are no municipal police departments in San Juan County).
As of 2014 the sheriff's office had 21 deputies and corrections officers on-staff, and 13 civilian empoyees. San Juan County is an archipelago composed of more than 400 islands. Due to this unique geography, the sheriff also operates a robust marine unit equipped with four small patrol craft used for Search and Rescue and transporting deputies and prisoners to and from remote islands. The sheriff has a mutual aid agreement with the United States Park Police unit assigned to the San Juan Island National Historical Park and, in the event of an exigency, can also request assistance from the Washington State Patrol's District 7 field detachment.
History
The county's first sheriff was Stephen Boyce, who was known among area Native Americans as Hyas Tyee ("great and powerful man" in the Coast Salish language). Boyce helped investigate the sensational "Kanaka Joe" murders of 1873 and personally hanged the murderer, Joe "Kanaka Joe" Nuanna. As of 2016 the Sheriff of San Juan County is Ron Krebs.
The San Juan County Sheriff's Office has never had a line-of-duty death.