Hazelo gets no jail time in case involving mask mandate in Elections Office

Tim Hazelo will not have to spend any time in jail for disrupting the Island County Elections Office by refusing to wear a mask last year.

A judge in Island County Superior Court handed the former chairperson of the county’s Republican Party a first-time offender waiver during a sentencing hearing Monday afternoon. On July 10, a jury found Hazelo guilty of unauthorized access to a voting center, a felony, and criminal trespass in the first degree, a gross misdemeanor.

Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Joseph Wilson ordered Hazelo to perform 40 hours of community service with a non-political nonprofit group and pay $700 in fines and fees. Wilson pointed out that Hazelo, a convicted felon, lost his right to possess firearms unless a judge someday restores the right, but he will be able to vote since he wasn’t incarcerated.

Wilson didn’t explain his reasoning in depth, although he said earlier than Hazelo seemed like a decent guy, was respectful during the hearing and has no criminal history.

“I just can’t get myself to the place where I’m going to sentence Mr. Hazelo to jail,” he said.

It was a surprise ending in a case that has garnered widespread media attention. A KOMO TV camera was in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing, as were at least 40 Hazelo supporters. They gathered around him on the steps of the Law and Justice Center in Coupeville after the hearing for speeches.

Hazelo did not speak in his defense during the hearing, but told his supporters afterward that his palms were sweating and he thought the sentence was going to go a different way. Several people yelled for him to run for county auditor.

In the sentencing memorandum, Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks agreed to vacate the criminal trespass charge to avoid double jeopardy and recommended a sentence of seven days in jail.

Hazelo’s attorneys did not ask for a first-time offender waiver but did request that he serve no jail time. They filed a motion last week to disqualify Banks and for a new trial based on newly revealed discovery violations and a conflict of interest. After arguments, Wilson denied the motion and moved forward with sentencing.

Before announcing the sentence, Wilson explained that he agreed to take on the “politically charged” case after Island County judges recused themselves. He said that he’s one of the most senior superior court judges in the state.

Wilson said he always tries to figure out people’s motivations when he’s sitting on the bench in both criminal and civil cases. He said he had difficulty figuring out the reasoning behind Hazelo’s actions.

The judge pointed out that Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider imposed a mask mandate in the ballot counting room in November because an outbreak of COVID in the office had imperiled the health of elderly volunteers during the recount of primary ballots.

Wilson paused and acknowledged that people in the audience were shaking their heads; one upset woman got up and left, spurring the judge to tell deputies that she wasn’t welcome back into the courtroom.

Wilson defended his comments, saying “it’s a medical fact” and that doctors diagnosed people in the office with COVID and that tests showed they had the disease; he also said earlier that many of the letters the court received from Hazelo supporters included claims about the case that simply weren’t facts.

The judge said he understood the importance of challenging government, but he indicated that was accomplished in a related civil case filed by Hazelo and Tracy Abuhl, another former leader of the county GOP party. Wilson said that letters from the community paint Hazelo as a “really decent human being” and that he was respectful during all the proceedings.

“I’m left with the question,” Wilson said. “If really that is the kind of man he is, then why would be take the action of putting other people in jeopardy? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“I’m of opinion,” he added, “that if you really are your brother’s keepers, you comply, challenge it in a different forum so as not to put anybody in jeopardy. That’s my personal opinion, the way I conduct my life.”

Wilson said a line from a letter supporting Hazelo may hold the answer to the question. The man wrote that the circumstances surrounding the crime Hazelo committed were “full of politics.”

“The politicization of this disease is … disgusting is a pretty good word,” the judge said. “More disappointing that anything else.”

Hazelo told his supports that he plans to continue fighting in courts. He and Abuhl already appealed Wilson’s decision to dismiss their request for a civil injunction to prevent Crider from enforcing a mask mandate. Abuhl is facing the same criminal charges and is scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 27, 2026.