King County Sheriff's Office - Lateral Deputy Sheriff
Last updated on October 09, 2025
PST Partner Agency since September 25, 2025
Vacancies: 10
Important Information
Experienced law enforcement officers are a strength to the King County Sheriff's Office. With a commissioned staff of more than 770, we are among the largest sheriff's departments in the country. Our deputies have opportunities to serve in many different communities, including unincorporated King County, numerous contract city police departments, transit police agencies, and so many more. To be considered for a Lateral Deputy Sheriff position, you must meet the following requirements:
- Experience as a full-time commissioned police officer with at least 12 months of active patrol after completion of all academy training. Time training on active patrol (PTO/FTO or similar) will count towards the 12 months of active patrol requirement.
- Successful completion of probation as a commissioned officer with a city, county or state police or sheriff's department.
- Federal Law Enforcement experience may qualify, pending a review from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center (CJTC). Please reach out to Marc Alvarado, Civil Service HR Analyst, at Marc.Alvarado@kingcounty.gov for next steps in the process.
- Less than a two-year break in service from a former police officer position.
- Academy training that meets or exceeds the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center's standards (720 hours).
- Out-of-state applicants will be required to complete an 80-hour equivalency academy.
- Verification that you do not meet any of the Sheriff’s Office Automatic Disqualifying Behaviors. (Follow the hyper link to review this list)
Lateral Hiring Incentives
- All laterals hired as a KCSO deputy on 09/11/25 or after are eligible to receive 40 hours of vacation and 40 hours of sick time credited to their leave banks on their first day of employment.
- Washington State Laterals hired as a KCSO deputy on 9/11/25 or after may be eligible to receive a signing bonus of $40,000.
- $25,000 for lateral candidates; receive $10,000 on your first paycheck and $15,000 when you pass probation, with a three (3) year commitment. Any questions regarding the hiring incentive please reach out KCSO recruiters at kcsorec@kingcounty.gov.
APPLICATION AND TESTING PROCESS:
1.Direct apply via governmentjobs.com–Click on the "Apply "link towards the top of the job announcement on the right. A complete application is required for processing.
- Do not type "see resume".
- Review the Sheriff's Office Automatic Disqualifiers
- Answer all supplemental questions.
Community Information
Department Information
Job Description
Area Information
Hiring Status
Salary Information
Benefit Information
King County Sheriff's Office - Lateral Deputy Sheriff Requirements
| Category | Requirement | Required at time of... | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test | Hire | ||
| Written Examination |
No, not required |
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| LEO/CO Physical Ability Test (PAT) |
No, not required (may be required later) |
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| PST Personal History Statement |
A fully complete, specific and up to date PST Personal History Statement is required at the time of application. If a PHS is not specific, up to date and completed by the time of application, you will have (3) three days to complete the statement. If one is not completed, you be removed from the application process. |
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| Minimum Age | You must be at least 20.5 years of age at the time of application; age 21 on the date of hire. | ||
| Citizenship | US Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident/DACA- recipient. | ||
| High School Grad/ GED | You must have a high school degree or GED. | ||
| Driver's License Required | You must have a Washington State driver's license, or be able to obtain one by the date of hire. | ||
| Felony Conviction(s) as an Adult | Will be carefully reviewed on a case by case basis. | ||
| Felony Conviction(s) as a Juvenile | Will be carefully reviewed | ||
| Ability to Read, Speak & Write the English Language | You must have the ability to read, speak and write the English language fluently. | ||
| Vision Requirements | Normal color vision (based on the Ishihara standard range of normal color vision as determined by the medical exam) Uncorrected vision of 20/100 or better, correctable to 20/30 with the use of glasses, hard contact lenses or soft contacts you have worn for less than one year OR Corrected vision to 20/30 or better with soft contact lenses you have worn for at least one year (in this case there is no uncorrected vision standard) OR Uncorrected vision of 20/30 or better. | ||
| College Requirement | No | ||
| Basic Law Enforcement Academy Certification |
REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL LATERAL APPLICANTS: |
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| Prior Experience Requirement |
REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL LATERAL APPLICANTS:
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| Veterans Preference Points |
Veteran's Preference: a valid copy of your DD-214 must be provided with your application materials online to be valid. |
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| Other |
Able to qualify with a KCSO-issued firearm at least twice a year. Able to successfully pass a complete background investigation to include a polygraph exam, psychological evaluation and a medical exam. |
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King County Sheriff's Office - Lateral Deputy Sheriff Disqualifiers
The following are automatic and potential disqualifiers. Applicants should not apply to our agency if they indicate any of the automatic disqualifiers. Potential disqualifiers will be considered on a case by case basis.
| Category | Disqualifier | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driving |
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| Drug Usage |
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| Criminal Activity |
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| Other |
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Contact Information
King County Sheriff's Office - Lateral Deputy Sheriff
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Agency Test Requirements
Written Examination: No, not required
PAT: No, not required (may be required later)
PST Personal History Statement:
A fully complete, specific and up to date PST Personal History Statement is required at the time of application. If a PHS is not specific, up to date and completed by the time of application, you will have (3) three days to complete the statement. If one is not completed, you be removed from the application process.
Other King County Sheriff's Office positions
Deputy Sheriff
911 Communications Specialist
Exceptional Entry Deputy Sheriff
COVID-19 UPDATES
5/6/2020 Update:
TESTING IN WASHINGTON STATE CANCELED THROUGH MAY 31, 2020
All pre-employment tests in Washington State have been canceled until May 31, 2020 unless government restrictions are eased. With recent updates, facility closures, and government guidelines, this step is necessary and could be modified at any time. The health and safety of our customers, our staff, and their families is of the highest priority.
We will continue to evaluate developments and make changes to this policy as necessary. When we do resume testing, there will be plenty of events for everyone to test. We are in regular communication with our public safety agency partners, assessing alternatives to the traditional testing model and our testing policies. Any future updates will be posted on the PST website and our Facebook page.
4/1/2020 Update:
If you have tested with PST in the past 12 months, there may be additional positions you are now eligible to add. Several departments have temporarily changed their testing policies due to the suspension in testing that COVID-19 has caused. Please login to your PST account and navigate to the ‘New Positions’ page to see what departments you can add! We will regularly update that page in your account as departments send updates.
FUTURE TEST REGISTRATION
We know that there will be testing in the future - we just don’t know when! We want you to be prepared for when testing begins again so we have created test events on our calendar that you can register for that will place you in a queue to be first notified. These tests are not “real” test events, they are essentially a holding area. You will be able to “reschedule” out of that event to any other event date/location at no cost. Registering now will also give you time to work on your Personal History Statement (PHS) so that your data will be ready and up-to-date to send to your departments once testing resumes.
To sign up for this placeholder event, select the June 15, 2020 test date in your category (police, fire, 911 dispatch, corrections, etc.).
You may also click on the test event of interest below to sign up:
Law Enforcement & Corrections Written and Physical Ability Test
Please check back here frequently and ‘Like’ our Facebook page to stay updated.
PST staff are working remotely and are available by email at contact@publicsafetytesting.com. We anticipate a high email volume and will respond as quickly as possible.
