By KARL SCHWEIZER

Herald Writer

SMOKEY POINT — Santa came early for workers at the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office north precinct.

The 130 officers, staff and volunteers got a much larger building, complete with office space, an evidence storage area, a testing machine for intoxicated drivers, and two cells for suspected crooks.

Although the building opened in August at 15100 40th Ave. NE, the staff waited until Friday to show it off to the public.

"It’s about time we got a facility commensurate with what we deserve," said Capt. Herb Oberg, commander of the precinct. "And we appreciate it."

Prior to the opening of the 6,600-square-foot precinct, deputies had worked in a 2,300-square-foot converted house, where there was little room to store evidence, and running the microwave and coffee pot at the same time would cause the computers to crash. There were no holding cells.

The old office was meant to be a temporary home, but ended up serving as north precinct headquarters for more than 10 years.

Prior to that, the precinct’s home was in a trailer next to the Snohomish County Fire District 12 station on Smokey Point Boulevard.

The new sheriff’s precinct has plenty of office space, boasts a modern radio and computer system, and has lots of room for training and meetings, Oberg said.

The county put $181,410 worth of renovations into the building and will lease it for the next five years. The additional lease cost for the new digs wasn’t available Friday.

It’s all part of a home from which deputies will patrol more than 800 square miles containing about 130,000 people.

Sheriff’s Explorer Casey Meyering, 17, put the difference between the new and old buildings into perspective.

"Our old building would have fit in this one’s evidence storage area," Meyering said.