5 things to know about the hotly contested race for Benton County prosecutor
Benton County voters will decide Nov. 8 on their choice for one of two different visions for enforcing criminal laws for the next four years.
Eric Eisinger, 46, and Ryan Lukson, 40, are facing off to replace Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller, who’s served the Tri-Cities community for 36 years.
The elected county prosecutor is the county’s chief law enforcement official, serving as the decision maker on prosecuting felony crimes and misdemeanors, as well as legal counsel for the Benton County Commission and county depart
The Benton County prosecutor manages 63 employees, including 32 criminal and civil attorneys, and is paid about $203,000.
The office also oversees a biennium budget of more than $16 million that’s spent on salaries, programs, domestic violence programs and drug task force work.
Lukson is running on his experience as Benton County’s assistant chief deputy prosecutor, his ties to the county and his ability to establish relationships in the community.
Eisinger is running for a change in direction at the top, a tough-on-crime approach and what he calls “real conservative values.”
1. Republican vs Republican
Both Lukson and Eisinger prefer the Republican Party — and they also agree that the Tri-Cities is at an inflection point.
“Our community is in crisis,” said Eisinger, a senior partner at Richland law firm Walker Heye, PLLC. “Now, that may sound like an exaggeration — and I wish that it was — but the fact of the matter is that property crime is up, violent crime is up and Benton County residents feel less secure in their own homes and neighborhoods than ever before.”
Eisinger has practiced law for about 19 years, and was a prosecutor for Yakima County, Lewis County and the city of Kennewick from 2003 to 2010. He’s spent the last 12 years in private practice, mostly as a trial attorney in civil and criminal law. He’s handled more than a thousand cases in DUI, personal injury, breach of contract and employment law.
He hopes to improve the turnaround time for referrals and cases, and bring about better communication between law enforcement agencies and the office.
Lukson currently serves as an assistant chief deputy prosecutor under Miller, who is a Democrat but has endorsed him as his favored successor.
He also serves as a Richland councilman, and served as mayor during the first two years of COVID.
A Richland graduate, Lukson went on to practice in corporate litigation for a Florida law firm that represents Ford and GM. After some time away, he ultimately returned home and for the last 11 years has worked for Benton County.
He says his experience serving under Miller is what separates him from his opponent, and that he’ll be ready to “hit the ground running on day one.”
Lukson says he hopes to “build off the success” of his predecessor, to use years of experience in the prosecutor’s office to try and address the inflating caseload.
“We have the resources right now to keep our public safe, but what we need is a strong leader and someone that has the relationships and vision to get that done. And I believe I’m that person,” he said.
The Tri-Cities is facing the same problems that many growing communities experience, with escalating property crime rates and a historic number of confirmed homicides this year.
2. Public safety tax
Lukson said ending Benton County’s public safety sales tax would be akin to “defunding our police — flat out.”
“I really think it’s a safe haven for our community. Whether Eric or I are elected, I could not imagine a scenario where we keep our public safe with 58 less law enforcement officers and 10 people less in the prosecutor’s office,” Lukson said.
The 0.3% tax on goods and services brings in around $8.5 million in annual revenue for Benton County, which funds salaries for officers and prosecutors. Those funds are also distributed to governments, police agencies and organizations operating within Benton County that fight and deter crime and gang activity.
The tax is currently due to sunset at the end of 2024. And a vote to renew the tax is likely in 2023.
Whoever the voters elect as prosecutor in November will be tasked with championing the importance and use of the tax. About 20% of the Benton County prosecutor’s office’s total budget is funded through the tax.
There’s currently a reserve balance of about $18.55 million in the tax’s fund, and the county expects that number to be closer to $6 million after the 2023-2024 biennium budgeting process.
“The best use of these tax funds would be to support direct law enforcement activities,” Eisinger said.
In addition to hiring more officers on the street, more prosecutors and covering essential equipment, Eisinger said they should also look to incentives — such as raises and bonuses — to keep cops and lawyers in the community.
He said he would also like to see an emphasis on funding that combats violent crime, gang activity and domestic violence.
Lukson has direct experience with the public safety sales tax, having served on the staff committee that reviews applications and recommends new funding to the Benton County commissioners.
He said the whole system is in need of extra funding.
“It is the perfect storm of having an increase in crime, a hard time hiring people and legislation from the state that’s making it harder for law enforcement officers to do their job,” he said.
He would like to see those tax dollars fund more court reporters, interpreters, corrections officers, and law enforcement officers. Lukson praised the county paying for 2 more prosecutors and a new victim-witness coordinator in the next budget.
Renewing the public safety sales tax will be a “critical” aspect of tamping down rising crime rates, Lukson said.
3. Homelessness, petty crimes
The two candidates hold differing views on homelessness and petty crime.
Eisinger said he’s in favor of the county sweeping homeless encampments, adding that there’s a “lot of criminal prosecutions” that come out of them. He would also work to limit any encampments from springing up and work to highlight available temporary housing.
“The living conditions are just atrocious,” Eisinger said. “Nobody should live like that.”
Lukson said the community’s rising homeless population is a concern, though said “cleaning up” encampments and dealing with the homeless is not controlled by the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office.
“This is really a societal problem,” Lukson said. “We need to make sure we have the resources in our community to provide access for homeless people to housing, and this is really a legislative issue, like I said, for the cities and states to work toward.”
The new prosecutor should work to advocate for legislative solutions and organizations, and leverage resources and the drug courts as they see fit, Lukson said.
“We need to look at ways that we can get more people in these programs. And these are not easy — these are not get-out-of-jail-free cards. These are programs that these people have to put in the work and they have to really want it, but we need to give more opportunities to those people,” Lukson said.
Lukson said he would work to continue Miller’s victim-centered approach to the office.
Eisinger said he would “aggressively pursue” property crime charges because that influences overall public safety.
4. Blake decision, WA police laws
Eisinger and Lukson have both decried the Blake decision — the Washington state Supreme Court’s ruling that found Washington’s law on simple drug possession unconstitutional.
The state Legislature passed a temporary fix in 2021 with SB 5476, which made drug possession a gross misdemeanor.
But Eisinger said even with the fix, there are still misdemeanor charges that are being thrown to the side.
“Very few of those cases are being prosecuted as a misdemeanor and effectively drugs are legal in Washington,” he said. “This is such a harmful policy. We’ve got to wheel this back in. Hard drugs like heroine and methamphetamine should not be legal.”
Lukson has tied the Blake decision and its short-term fix by the Legislature to the rising property crimes in Benton County.
One of his priorities would be to lobby the Legislature for fixes to police accountability laws passed in Washington after the death of George Floyd, he said.
The laws placed restrictions on police pursuits on low-level crimes, established new use-of-force standards, and placed restrictions on buying military-style equipment. But these laws are slowly being rescinded by state legislators.
Both Lukson and Eisinger praised passage earlier this year of a law that reverses restrictions made on Terry stops, which is when an officer briefly detains a person based on reasonable suspicion, usually during a traffic stop.
“We still have a ton of work to do,” Lukson said. “The vehicle pursuit law is an embarrassment to our state. The fact that you see someone commit a crime, that you cannot pursue that vehicle — that’s just not right. That doesn’t serve our community, that doesn’t serve us as citizens and we need to make our voices heard over in Olympia.”
Eisinger said these laws have also had a chilling effect on law enforcement retention.
5. Endorsements and donations
Lukson has raised nearly $80,000 in doantions to Eisinger’s $70,700, according to recent Public Disclosure Commissioner reports. And records show Eisinger has spent about $41,500 to Lukson’s $85,000 on the campaign.
Both candidates have received a slew of endorsements, from sheriffs to county commissioners, to retired police commanders and companies.
Lukson’s list of endorsements includes:
Current Benton County officials: Sheriff Tom Croskrey, Commissioners Jerome Delvin and Shon Small, Coroner Bill Leach, Prosecutor Andy Miller, Clerk Josie Delvin
Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond
The Benton & Franklin County Bar Association
Others include West Richland Mayor Brent Gerry, Port of Benton Commissioner Roy Keck and Kennewick Firefighters Local 1296 and Richland Firefighters Local 1052.
Eisinger’s endorsements include:
Current Benton County Commissioner Will McKay
Benton County Republican Party
Kennewick Mayor Bill McKay
Others include Tri-City Association of Realtors, Lampson International the Lampson family, Richland School Board members Semi Bird and Audra Byrd, Kennewick School Board member Micah Valentine, Washington Rep. Brad Klippert, former Congressman Doc Hastings.
Ballots
Ballots have already been mailed out to registered voters. But voters can still register or update their voting address online through Oct. 31 to get a ballot mailed to them.
After that, you can register at a local voting center through 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Voters can cast their ballot up until 8 p.m. on Election Day at an official drop box or their local auditor’s office.
