King County Executive Dow Constantine approved a retention bonus for deputies and staffers with the King County Sheriff's Office.

The approved bonuses include a one-time $4,000 retention bonus to all commissioned Sheriff’s Office employees employed Jan. 1, a hiring bonus of $15,000 for lateral hires of sheriff's deputies, a hiring bonus of $7,500 for new deputies and a $5,000 referral bonus for current employees who refer successful deputy candidates.

Constantine proposed the bonuses back in November when he announced the selection of Interim Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall.

There are over 700 commission deputies in the department.