Grant County Undersheriff Ryan Rectenwald will serve as interim sheriff following Sheriff Tom Jones' retirement at the end of this month.

Commissioner Danny Stone said Rectenwald was appointed because they need to give the county Republican Party enough time to select three sheriff candidates for county commissioners to chose from.

Jones reportedly only told commissioners that he'd be retiring at the end of June a couple of weeks ago. Normally the current sheriff's party, in this case the Republican Party, would select three candidates for sheriff that county commissioners would then chose from.

"We took a look at our staff and felt like this was kind of an automatic. The undersheriff is second in command at this point so why wouldn't we just ask him if he'd be willing." Stone said, "We took a look at his credentials and felt like this was a guy that's been with us for a lot of years, so let's see if he'll do the job."

Rectenwald will serve until early August, when the more formal interim sheriff is set to be selected. That second interim will then serve until the November election is certified, at which point the newly-elected sheriff will take over.

Applications for the next interim sheriff are due by July 15th. The Grant County Republican Party will then select its three candidates after interviewing applicants July 23rd. Those candidates must be submitted to the county commission no later than August 3rd.

Stone anticipates that the second interim sheriff will be selected in the second week of August.

Former Mattawa Police Chief Joe Harris, Grant County Chief Deputy Joe Kriete and James Baker, a farmer from the Moses Lake area, are all running for sheriff.

More From NewsRadio 560 KPQ