SPOKANE, Wash. — One of the candidates for Spokane County prosecutor and her time at the prosecutor’s office is under the microscope.
Danny Tarkenton’s website said she stepped away from the office to get her masters degree, but in reality, she was fired.
Documents Tarkenton provided show she worked at the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office from March 2025 until she was fired in August 2025.
Just over a year later, she is running for the office against incumbent Preston McCollam, the man who fired her.
Her campaign website said she left the office last year to pursue a master’s degree.
Tarkenton says she has an autoimmune disease that made it difficult to handle the caseload at the prosecutor’s office, in addition to problems with her supervisor. She said she asked for options before she left.
“I wanted to either be transferred back to the criminal division in their therapeutic courts that had a lower volume or to get a different supervisor because I didn’t feel comfortable with the civil division one that I had,” Tarkenton said, “or if I could just get a couple of days to pack up my things and resign and leave.”
Tarkenton said she witnessed conduct that troubled her. She describes requests from her civil division supervisor that she believed violated people’s due process rights.
“I witnessed some things,” Tarkenton said, “my supervisor in the civil division… asked me to do things that I thought were violating people’s due process rights and I didn’t feel comfortable under his leadership.”
Tarkenton also provided documents from a human resources investigation the prosecutor’s office conducted. Those documents said Tarkenton lacked accountability and the ability to take direction. Tarkenton denies she was insubordinate. She said she was trying to uphold the oath she took when she was sworn in.
“I swore an oath to the constitution and I didn’t swear it to a supervisor,” Tarkenton said, “the thing about swearing to the constitution is that you make that oath with the expectation of making the ultimate sacrifice, so I held firm.”
Tarkenton later filed a claim against the office. She says it resolved in a settlement agreement that changed what becomes public about her departure.
“I had enough evidence in my claim to where, in the settlement agreement, they agreed to redact their letter of reprimand, redact the HR investigation, change my termination to a resignation,” Tarkenton said.
Tarkenton also weighed the choice she faced at the time. She describes a trade-off between a resignation and a firing.
“There’s pros and cons to both of them. If you pick the resignation letter, it is better on your record. However, it does weaken any claims that you have against the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office. You also don’t get things like unemployment.”
McCollam fired Tarkenton from the prosecutor’s office. During a recent debate, he argued she does not have enough experience to hold the office. When reached for comment, he said the documents about Tarkenton appear authentic and speak for themselves.
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