by Tim Clifford

At 10 a.m. today Sheriff John Urquhart held a press conference to announce the appointment of Jim Pugel to Chief Deputy with the King County Sheriff's office.

Pugel, the former Interim Chief of the Seattle Police Department, was asked by Urquhart to come out of retirement to be Urquhart's next in charge in the department.

"I wanted to make sure that I have somebody in the No.2 who is experienced, and progressive, and feels the same way that I do about policing in the 21st century, especially in the Northwest" said Urquhart of choosing Pugel.

The appointment will begin on Sept. 1 and will bring Pugel an estimated annual income of 173 thousand dollars.

"I've always loved serving the public. I've always loved working with other agencies, not just law enforcement but anyone who's trying to make the community a safer, healthier community and this is a great chance to do that" said Pugel of his decision to come out of retirement.

According to Urquhart no other candidates were considered and Pugel was always his first and only choice