Whatcom County announces deal to relocate Sheriff’s Office
Whatcom County Council members are considering a long-term lease for a vacant building in the Cordata area as a new location for the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, the County Executive’s Office said.
A deal announced Monday involves the Ryzex Inc. building, 4600 Ryzex Way, which is owned by former County Council member Rud Browne, in an industrial park west of Guide Meridian.
County Executive Satpal Sidhu said in a statement that the agreement solves an ongoing issue for Sheriff’s Office employees, who have outgrown their offices in a one-time storage area beneath the county jail, built in 1984. Sidhu said the new building offers easy access to Guide Meridian, which makes it “a strategic location for emergency response” and other operations.
“The Sheriff’s Office has long endured a substandard workspace, and earlier this year the County Council asked my office to prioritize action on this,” Sidhu said. “After a thorough exploration of options available for lease as well as potential construction of a new facility, we are pleased to have identified a solution that both meets the unique needs of the Sheriff’s Office and allows for relocation as early as next summer.”
Annual rent will be $507,132, which Sidhu said was an amount consistent with market rates for similar properties. The proposed lease runs through 2033 with options for two two-year extensions, and the county retains the option to buy the property. The county will pay for improvements to the building that are required to bring it to law-enforcement standards for security, privacy, evidence storage and the like.
A lease agreement is set to go before the County Council at its Nov. 5 meeting.
Preliminary plans involve the Sheriff’s Office occupying the building in stages, possibly beginning as early as summer 2026.
The Ryzex building’s most recent tenant was Blue Sea Systems, a marine electronics firm that moved to Mexico, and the site has been vacant for several months. Browne, who did not run for a third term in 2021, told The Herald that he recently terminated his lease with Blue Sea.
“I think the best thing from a community perspective is to use it as a public building. It’s still in the (Bellingham) city limits but only a half-mile from (the sheriff’s) service area. It couldn’t be a better location in terms of their ability to respond,” Browne told The Herald.
Browne developed the site in 1997 for his former computer products company, Ryzex Inc., now Peak Technologies. The building is a 30,000-square-foot two-story concrete tilt-up structure on 2 acres with parking for nearly 100 cars. It has a reception area, offices, and large interior space with roll-up doors. It has an appraised value of $3.8 million, according to the Whatcom County Assessor’s Office.
A new home for the Sheriff’s Office has been sought for more than a decade, as the department grew and its basement offices deteriorated. A voter initiative for a sales tax to build a new jail and modernize the Sheriff’s Office failed in 2015 and 2017, but was approved in 2023.
Most recently, the Sheriff’s Office was supposed to move to the new county jail being planned in Ferndale. But that building is several years from completion.
Sheriff Donnell Tanksley told The Herald that he’s been working to find a now location for the Sheriff’s Office “since Day One” of his term that started in 2024.
“A lot of people are excited — cautiously excited,” because the deal requires County Council approval, Tanksley said in an interview.
“(But) this isn’t just about new digs. It’s been aspirational for people before me. It’s good not only for the Sheriff’s Office, but also for the community,” he said.
Tanksley said the new building, at the north end of Bellingham, is more central to rural Whatcom County, has plenty of on-site parking and “provides dignified ADA access” for people with disabilities. He told his staff about the deal in an email with the subject line “great news” Monday afternoon.
“For the first time in nearly a century, the Sheriff’s Office will have a dedicated, safe and appropriate work space of its own. I want to extend my gratitude to those of you who shared your insights and experiences with the Whatcom County Council earlier this year. Those presentations helped shine a light on this much-needed move and provided the necessary momentum to secure a new location. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have driven this project forward,” Tanksley’s email said.
Undersheriff Steve Harris told The Herald that his staff has been working for years in cramped quarters with little privacy between offices. Water and sewage sometimes leaks from the jail above, according to testimony at an April 15 meeting of the County Council.
“(Ryzex Way) has a huge advantage for us. No. 1, it’s immediately available and not years down the road. It’s not a new building, but it’s well-constructed and easily meets our needs,” Harris said in an interview.
Council members have been discussing the proposal privately in executive session for several months, after it was brought forward in June by Councilman Tyler Byrd.
Browne, Byrd and Harris explained a possible deal for the site to The Herald in May, before Byrd brought the proposal to the full council and secrecy rules prevented further public discussion. Government agencies are allowed to engage in private talks under certain circumstances such as real estate transactions.
“I think it is a perfect building for something like the Sheriff’s Office. We walked through the building and were surprised at how good a fit it is,” Browne said. “The cost savings alone will be greater than the rent, not to mention the staff morale.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 3:16 PM.
