At 29 years old, Derek Sanders has been told he’s the youngest sheriff ever in Thurston County, if not Washington state history. Sanders, whose father is half-Black, also said he is the first mixed-race sheriff in the county, something that made his family proud. “That's quite an accomplishment, but at the same time I tell them I haven't accomplished anything yet. There's a lot of stuff to get done,” said Sanders. Voters in November elected Sanders, a six-year Thurston County deputy, over incumbent John Snaza. Sanders, in an interview before being sworn-in on Tuesday, said his priorities include: increasing drunk driving patrols, helping domestic violence survivors, and putting burglary suspects in jail, something that the county stopped doing to reduce the jail population over COVID concerns. "We're going to be looking at making burglary a bookable offense immediately,” said Sanders. “That's something they haven't been able to book for for almost three years now. Which is a huge issue.” READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/new-thurston-county-sheriff/281-05494c7d-a77b-4280-8fed-ec977e663e09