Two top Peninsula lawmen unsuccessful in trying to dismiss Olympic National Park's $125 'closure' tickets

Two top North Olympic Peninsula law enforcement officials unsuccessfully lobbied federal authorities Tuesday to dismiss the $125 “violation of closure” tickets issued to people who visited the closed Olympic National Park over the weekend. Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict and Port Angeles Police Chief Terry Gallagher separately wrote Jenny Durkan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, asking for the dismissal of citations. They said Ranger Jennifer Jackson — working without pay since the partial federal government shutdown Oct. 1 — did not use “common sense” when she issued three citations in the Barnes Point lot at Lake Crescent on Saturday. “It's absurd,” Gallagher told the Peninsula Daily News on Tuesday. “There was absolutely no reason to issue citations to these people.” Said Benedict: “Nobody is questioning the closure of the park. “But to essentially issue a trespass citation to people for going to the park shows a lack of common sense and discretion,” he added. Durkan, in an email response to Sheriff Benedict, defended the ranger's actions, saying those ticketed drove past signs and cones that declared the park closed. Park officials also backed the ranger's decision to issue citations. “We support the way the ranger was doing her job,” Maynes said. The “violation of closure” regulation is included in federal code, Maynes said. It is typically used when areas of the park are closed due to mudslides, fallen trees or washed-out roads. The main sticking point expressed by both Benedict and Gallagher was the ranger's choice to issue the tickets. “What this is really about is the Park Service, whether this is ordered from on-high or not, using incredibly poor discretion,” Benedict said. “If one of my deputies was to abuse his discretion to that extent, I would at least have to have some counseling with them.” Police officers have the option of issuing a citation or not in any misdemeanor case, Gallagher said. “I don't have a problem with the ranger enforcing the closure,” he said. “But the choice to issue citations was entirely discretionary.”...more