COUPEVILLE—Island County Superior Court Judge Joseph Wilson on Monday, August 25, sentenced Tim Hazelo, a Republican ballot observer in Island County, to 40 hours of community service and is ordered to pay $200 court costs and a $500 fine, along with submitting a DNA sample. He will not serve any time in jail. Hazelo must also relinquish his firearms. The Navy veteran was facing up to two years in prison. Both civil and federal appeals are underway.
“I’m glad for the light sentence,” Hazelo provided the Lynnwood Times in a statement. “I never should have been charged to begin with. We are not done fighting this. I hope WA is finally ready to get in this and recover our state from the social and civil decay our liberal government has created. Our appeals are being submitted, the feds know about the case, and these overzealous progressive prosecutors are on the ropes. Stay tuned.”
A jury found Hazelo guilty of unauthorized access to a voting center (felony) and criminal trespass (gross misdemeanor) during a jury trial Thursday, July 10, stemming from an incident where he refused to wear a mask, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, during the ballot counting process in a closed area. Because of the felony conviction, Hazelo lost his security clearance that resulted in the loss of his job.
Washington State lifted its COVID-19 State of Emergency in October 2022. The Department of Health lifted its mask mandate on April 2, 2023.
Hazelo is the former Chair of the Island County Republicans and ran against Rep. Rick Larsen back in 2020 to represent Washington’s Second Congressional District. He also served as a 2024 National Delegate at the Republican National Convention.
Leading up to the November 2024 election, Hazelo was scheduled to be a ballot observer in Island County when he was forcefully removed by law enforcement for not wearing a mask. Body camera footage from the officers shows Hazelo at first argued his right to be there but eventually complied with their orders.
The responding officers did not wear masks when entering the ballot counting room when asking Hazelo to leave. A week after Hazelo’s trespass, security camera footage of the room also captured a ballot counter who was not wearing a mask while inside the room. That man was not asked to leave or charged with a crime.
When challenged why this unmasked election worker was not similarly trespassed, or charged, the Island County Auditor’s Office said that he was not wearing a mask because he was drinking a beverage. However, security camera footage does not show a beverage near the worker. It is also against the Island County Elections rules that food and beverages be allowed in the counting room.
Hazelo originally did have the authority to access the ballot counting area as he was selected by the Auditor to be an official observer and officially signed in on November 4, however he was trespassed by police after he did not leave when requested to by officials. Hazelo did not return to the ballot counting area after being trespassed.
Per state law, RCW 29.A.60.170, County Auditors shall request a list of individuals willing to serve as ballot counting observers from each major political party — to ensure accuracy and transparency. Observers are not allowed to touch the ballots, the statute states, just simply observe the counting process. The RCW does not state, however, that a mask must be worn during this observation process. That mandate was enforced by Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider, also a Republican, who said she imposed the mandate due to several of her staff members getting sick during the August primaries.
Those who did not wish to wear a mask could still observe the counting process from the hallway, but Hazelo believed he had a right to be in the counting room proper and argued that his view was obstructed from the hallway viewing area.
Hazelo was originally charged with “disorderly conduct” – a misdemeanor – but that charge was upgraded to a class C felony by Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks.
Social media posts from the Prosecutor who upgraded the charge, Banks, has been staunchly opposed to Republicans, President Donald J Trump, and anti-maskers, commonly voicing his disdain. Because of this, Hazelo believes the upgraded charge to be politically motivated, which Banks denies.
Editor’s Note: Article updated at 6:35 p.m., August 25, 2025, with a statement from Tim Hazelo.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
6 Responses
It seems that the person writing this article, Kienan Briscoe, didn’t do their research.
First, Drama Queen Tim was not ‘forcibley removed.’ He was polititely escorted out by law enforcment.
Second, Timmy was charged with a misdemeanor- and if he’d pled guilty he would have problaby only faced a fine. But nooooo. Drama Queen Tim wanted to make a case out of this, so he brought this felony charge and conviction on himself. A few times now he’s said what’s happening to him is “just like Jan. 6” so you can get a sense of what sort of fantasy world he lives in.
And the article seems to skip over the fact that under state law, the county auditor has the right to impose rules to protect her workers, including requiring that people wear masks. It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference when the “mask mandate” was lifted.
As the election worker not wearing a mask, we only got a snapshot of a brief amount of time he wasn’t wearing a mask. Regardless if he was breaknig the rules or not doesn’t excuse Timmy from breaking them.
Tim often talks about being in harm’s way when he he and Semi Big Bird served overseas. To hear Tim tell it he was dodging ISIS bullets and Taliban death threats. But he comes back to American and he turns into a whiny little boy – “I don’t want to wear a 3×5 inch masks, so neener-neener.”
And finally, I haven’t heard that this is being appealed at the federatl level. This is local / state offense, so as much as Timmy dreams of a Presidential Pardon, it ain’t likely to happen. But dream on Tim, dream on.
Wow, are you a smug b*****d. You are the one living in the fantasy world. “Forcibly removed” doesn’t mean violently removed. He wasn’t doing anything wrong and he was wrongly “forced” to leave. It’s unhinged liberals such as yourself that helped me decide to leave what used to be a great state to live in. But because of people like you it has turned into a gulag. I hope a whole lot of people get fired over this once Tim wins his appeals. But they won’t. They won’t even have to publicly apologize for what they did to him. You are out of touch with reality. Read the facts of the case and come back to the real world.
I assume the “smug bas***d” you are referringto is me? And I also assume that by calling me a “nasty” name you disagree with my position and with the facts of this incident? Well good for you for exercising your right to say dumb stuff. I salute you – regardless of which sh_thole state you now live in!
The fact is, Drama Queen Tim goes around telling everyone what brave soliders he and Semi Bird Brain were, but he comes back stateside, and he turns into a whiny wimp who is scared to wear a 3×5 inch piece of fabric. Sounds more like a scardey cat than a patriot.
And … according to Tim the mask mandate malarkey is not even the issue – he is saying that our county auditor – who is a REPUBLICAN – did not have the authority to make a mask rule AND law enforcement officers who work for our county sheriff – who is also a REPUBLICAN – don’t have the authority to cite and escort Drama Queen Tim out of the elections office.
But hey, I didn’t put the mask rule (it’s not a mandate) in place, and i didn’t cite Timmy and Tracy and escort them out of county offices, and I didn’t elect the Snohomish County.judge – who Tim said is fair and would follow the rule of law – and i wasn’y on the jury of his peers who found him guilty!
So, why are you trash-talking me? Could it be you have an issue with facts and reality so you take it out on innocent, patriotic Americans like me? Evidence sure points in that direction, ay Patty Cake?
FYI – the article says he was “forcefully removed” by law enforcement officers who work for our county sheriff who last time ran as a Republican – and was even endorsed by the Isand Co. REPUBLICANS when he ran for office – and he was endorsed by Timmy since he was the county chair at the time. My point is no force was used – and even Drama Queen Tim admits he left without a struggle.
But if you mean they made him leave – like you might “force” a pervert to put on his big boy pants and leave a public location – then yes, he was “forced”. But according to the lawsuit he lost and the jury trial he lost both the auditor and the sheriffs acted in accordance with the law – it’s Drama Queen Tim who acted out.
But if you who live out of state disagree with the facts of the case, you have my permission to express your opinion; just don’t force us to buy your whacky opinions, thank you very much.
Hey David who won the last presidential election in a landslide? You smug libs really do love to live in your own fantasy. Hate to break it to you but you aren’t in the majority. Most of us keep quiet just to keep the peace but you unhinged commies are running this state into the ground.
Politely presented with facts that are verifiable with easily accessible public records; continues to double down on name calling and blaming “libs”. You are the cancer of our democracy, do better.