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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Recently, l received notification from the Office of Performance, Strategy, and Budget that they have issued targeted spending cuts to address the projected $150,000,000 deficit in the 2026-27 biennial budget. In response, I sent a letter to King County leadership calling for a major shift in spending priorities.
I am very frustrated that a disproportionate amount of the proposed budget cuts are being made to essential public safety services, including:
- $30.2 million in cuts to the Sheriff’s Office
- $15.5 million to the Superior Court
- $15.5 million to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office
- $7.5 million to the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention
In total, this amounts to $70,000,000 in cuts to core law enforcement and criminal justice functions—cuts that would slash the number of Sheriff’s Deputies in half and are equivalent to firing 90 criminal prosecutors!
Meanwhile, the county continues to fund the controversial Restorative Community Pathways diversion program to the tune of $9,600,000 and spends over $400,000 on activist-driven efforts to close the county’s only youth jail. It's unacceptable to continue to fund experimental and damaging approaches to criminal justice while defunding the core elements of our public safety system.
In my letter, I urge county leadership to restore $15,000,000 in funding to our most essential criminal justice responsibilities by zeroing out funding for soft-on-crime approaches that are failing our communities. Violent crime has surged in recent years and is still getting worse. First and foremost, the county needs to spend its limited dollars on strategies that keep our communities safe.
Public safety continues to be one of my central priorities as your Councilmember, and I will continue to work to increase investments in our law enforcement and justice system, in the 2026-27 biennial budget process and beyond.
All my best,
 Reagan Dunn
King County Councilmember
District 9
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