Declare an Emergency, Now. The Jail Crisis: When Will It End?

I proposed an emergency declaration at the Board of Commissioners meeting on Dec 19th, 2023, using the March 2020 Coos County COVID declaration as a template. If our leaders thought it necessary to bypass normal funding rules to minimize the effects of COVID, why not apply that logic to the jail crisis?

Homes are burglarized every day and vehicles are stolen regularly. Our jail will not hold these criminals even when they re-offend on emergency release.

Ask yourself: how is a severely under-funded and under-staffed jail not an emergency?

Passing an Emergency Declaration would authorize the Board to redirect funds appropriated for other purposes and enable the Sheriff to hire enough staff to open the jail to full capacity. They will tell you they are not allowed to do this, but ORS 294.481 and Coos County Code 10.01.060 both permit redirecting funds for emergency use.

Failing to act now will lead us further into a state of lawlessness. The time has come to fight back.

The full text of the proposed declaration is at https://www.chriscastleman.com/blog/declare-an-emergency-now