Clay Myers began his career in public service right out of high school when he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served four years in the 2nd Ranger Battalion at Fort Lewis before being honorably discharged in 1985 with the rank of Sergeant.
Clay decided to continue on a path of public service and moved to Ellensburg to join the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office that same year. He has worked his way up through the ranks starting as a Corrections Officer and then shortly to a Commissioned Line Deputy before being promoted to Undersheriff by former Sheriff Gene Dana in 2004. Upon Sheriff Dana’s retirement in October 2019, Clay was appointed as Sheriff by the Board of County Commissioners. In November 2020, he was elected in a landslide with 70% of the vote to fill the remaining two years of former Sheriff Gene Dana’s unexpired term.
Throughout his career, Clay has served as Dive Team Leader, Water & Ice Rescue Team Leader, Search & Rescue, ORV/ATV Patrol, Marine Patrol, State Marine Patrol Instructor, Emergency Management, Sniper Team Leader, Special Response Team Leader, Tactical Commander, Public Information Officer, and Incident Commander for natural disasters, man-made disasters, and Tactical events.
As Undersheriff for 16 years, Clay ran the day-to-day operations of the office and often assumed the duties of Sheriff when necessary. He was uniquely qualified for this position because, during his tenure with the KCSO, he has served in nearly every position both operationally and administratively.
As Sheriff, Myers has focused on decreasing crimes and deaths associated with illicit drug trafficking and establishing partnerships to increase access to mental health and substance abuse recovery services. He has implemented organizational changes to increase efficiency, transparency, and safety. These include transitioning Search & Rescue to Cle Elum to decrease response times, securing funding to equip all uniformed officers with body cameras, and adding two patrol deputy positions and a public disclosure clerk.
In his off-duty time, Clay has been a member of the Ellensburg Morning Rotary Club for the past nine years and is part of the CWU Law & Justice Advisory Board. He currently serves on both the Kittitas County Fair Board and the Ellensburg Rodeo Board as the Director of Security. He also serves as the Chairman of the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs Boating Safety Committee.
Clay has been married to Debbie Myers, an Ellensburg native, for 34 years. They have three daughters: Jessica Zentner, a CWU graduate and Army Captain; Lacey Myers, a CWU graduate and Army Reserve Lieutenant; and Jayme Myers, also a graduate of CWU and the 2019 Cle Elum Rodeo Queen.
