The News Tribune is reporting that Robert Hill has been involuntarily committed to the Puget Sound mental health hospital Thursday night, after an arrest for inappropriate possession of a fake training gun in the County-City building of Tacoma Olympia. It is reported that Hill pointed the training gun at a guard when passing through security. Hill denies that he pointed his replica at the guard.

The rabbit hole goes deeper when on Wednesday afternoon, Hill passed through security again in Tacoma Olympia, followed by a friend of Hill’s who possessed a real gun registered in the name of Hill’s mother. Hill again denies knowledge of the gun or his colleagues possession of it. Hill was later arrested Thursday morning and committed after a mental health review.

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Is Jesse Hill qualified for Sheriff? This question was posed by one of our readers in the comments section of a recent post notifying the public of Jesse Hill’s open house of September 27th, 2008. The comment pointed out that according to the Charter 1 Amendment, any elected Sheriff must meet minimum requirements of education and experience including:

• Minimum of bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, forensic science or a related field.
• Graduate of a law enforcement academy.
• Ability to coordinate search and rescue operations.

We contacted Mr. Hill by email to find out more about his qualifications in regard to these requirements and his understanding of them.  He responded by pointing out that Section 36.28.025 of the Charter 1 Amendment states that:

A person who files a declaration of candidacy for the office of sheriff after September 1, 1979, shall have, within twelve months of assuming office, a certificate of completion of a basic law enforcement training program which complies with standards adopted by the criminal justice training commission pursuant to RCW 43.101.080 and *43.101.160.

(Click to enlarge) Hill's Voter Packet Bio - from http://www.flickr.com/photos/tacoma-inventor/

Mr. Hill acknowledged that he currently did not meet these qualifications, stating “[t]his is something, in the future, that will have to be obtained,” but noted his awareness of the twelve month probationary period.

How is Jesse Hill currently qualified if he doesn’t meet the eventual requirements? According to the Pierce County Voters Pamphlet he has “had contact” with a number of law enforcement agencies in the Puget Sound area, and is certainly not shy of ideas.

With Hill outspending his opponent Sheriff Paul Pastor, $28,059.59 to $23,812.22 some Tacomans are beginning to question how exactly Hill is funding his campaign and furthermore if he actually might win this race.  Hill notes that a majority of his campaign funding comes from gold coins he has collected over the last 20 to 25 years. Yeah, gold coins, a claim which has led many to become suspicious and consider supernatural explanations.

An article by The Tribune formerly known as Tacoma, notes that some of Hill’s expenditures are for bizarre items like $60.93 on fourteen sunglass necklaces and $200 for “guard-dog food” purchased from JAG Auctions.

As ridiculous as some of his spending may seem, Jesse Hill means business. Many Tacomans have claimed to have seen a Hill mailing or the man-myth himself walking neighborhoods to canvas his campaign.

What would Pierce County be like with Jesse Hill Sheriff? There’s only one way to find out, and Tacoma might come November.