Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan stepped into a tough spot when he became the county’s top law officer last year.
The county’s population has gone from just over 60,000 in 1991 to nearly 77,000 today, yet the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office has the same number of patrol deputies as it did 22 years ago – seven. On top of that, the jail, which has a 252-bed capacity, has about 100 empty beds – and not because there are not enough criminals to fill them, but because there isn’t enough money to house them.
When Umatilla County Commissioner Bill Elfering formed a committee to look at how the county can provide better law enforcement coverage, it reached a conclusion that a pair of voter-approved levies was the best way to fully staff the sheriff’s office and operate the jail at full capacity.
In November, voters will be asked to approve those two levies. The first levy would raise $1,600,000 annually over the next five years to fully fund the jail, dispatch center, civilian services and other operations inside the sheriff’s office. If passed, all Umatilla County residents – city and rural – would pay 40 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The second levy would generate $2.2 million annually to fund 18 additional deputies and would allow the sheriff’s office to provide 24/7 law enforcement coverage throughout the county. If passed, county residents would pay 94 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. Only rural voters and city voters who are not served by their own police department will vote on this levy and pay the new tax if it passes.
Rowan said voters can put an end to forced releases by approving the first levy.
“We’re doing an awful lot of forced releases back into the community,” Rowan told the Hermiston City Council this week. He said it was not uncommon for an officer to arrest someone, book them in jail and then watch the offender be released before the officer has even finished his or her paperwork.
“This perpetuates a bad system,” he said.
Elfering, in a letter to the Hermiston City Council, said there is not enough money in the county budget to run the jail at full capacity and the result is inmates are released without having served their full jail time. Rowan said the proposed levy would end the scenario of the offender leaving the jailhouse before the officer.
“The desire is to hold offenders responsible,” he said. “Even in light of where we are economically, in our minds it (the levy) is a road to a stronger community, a safer community and for us to put our foot down and say, ‘No way – not here.’”
The second levy – to fund 18 additional deputies – would allow the sheriff’s office to patrol the county 24 hours a day – something it cannot do now with just seven patrol deputies on staff.
“We currently try to provide coverage 20 hours a day,” Rowan said. “So there’s a four-hour block of time with no protection.”
Elfering said the levy is necessary to provide the kind of law enforcement service the county residents expect, but currently are not getting.
“There simply are not enough officers to create an anti-crime presence, investigate crime and arrest offenders,” Elfering wrote in his letter to the council.
Both levies would provide revenue for the sheriff’s office for a five-year period of time.
“The decision will be up to the residents of Umatilla County to deal with the problem or ignore it,” Elfering wrote.
