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Yamhill County approves sheriff-led grants for retail-theft enforcement and jail opioid treatment; kennel contract amended
Summary
The Board of Commissioners authorized the sheriff’s office to apply for and accept two Criminal Justice Commission grants — one to target organized retail theft and one to fund jail-based medications for opioid use disorder — and approved an amendment to a kennel services contract for the sheriff’s office.
The Yamhill County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 9 authorized the sheriff to apply for and accept two Criminal Justice Commission grants — one for organized retail-theft enforcement up to $127,405 and one to fund jail-based medications for opioid use disorder up to $225,957 — and approved an amendment reducing reserved kennels and raising the per-kennel rate in a contract with a local shelter.
The actions matter because the grants would fund multi-agency enforcement and jail health services that sheriff’s officials said address recurring public-safety and public-health problems in the county. Commissioners approved the measures unanimously.
Sheriff Sam Elliott, who appeared at the meeting, described the organized retail-theft grant as a multi-agency effort. “This is actually something I’m really excited about, because this is a partnership that we are going to be working together with the McMinnville Police Department and the Newburgh Dundee Police Department,” Elliott said. He said retailers repeatedly targeted include “Dollar General, Ulta Beauty Supply, Wilco Farm stores, Walmart” and that some groups come from other counties to commit theft across multiple locations.
Elliott said the organized-theft operations are not isolated shoplifting incidents: “This isn’t just the 1 off, you know, smaller, shoplift type thing. This is where they're coming and taking large amounts that are gonna go back out into the the black market.” Commissioners voted to authorize the sheriff to apply for the organized retail-theft grant and, if awarded, accept the grant up to the stated amount; the motion passed unanimously, with Commissioner King recorded as the mover.
On the jail-based medications grant, Elliott described the program as a continuation of a prior award. He said the county partners with the jail medical provider and Yamhill County Health and Human Services to both continue prescriptions for people already on medication and to induct new intakes into medication treatment, with a goal of linking people to local providers when they are released. Elliott told the board the immediate post-release period is “particularly dangerous and particularly deadly” for people with opioid use disorder and that the program aims to mitigate that risk. The board authorized application and acceptance if awarded; the motion passed unanimously.
Separately, the board approved Amendment No. 3 to an agreement between the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office and an organization listed in the record as Newberg Bridal Shelter Friends, reducing the number of reserved kennels from four to three and increasing the rate from $50 to $60 per kennel per day for the amended term (retroactive to Oct. 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026). That amendment was approved by unanimous vote.
No additional conditions or reporting requirements were stated on the record beyond the grant application language and the contract amendment. The board made the approvals during its formal session; successful grant awards would create new revenue streams that county law enforcement and jail health partners would then implement.
