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Cowlitz County drug court leaders ask commissioners to restore six positions as mental-health tax ends
Summary
Drug court managers urged the Cowlitz County commissioners to preserve staff that had been funded by the county's mental health sales tax, proposing a mix of general fund and opioid-settlement interest to cover roughly $396,000 in personnel costs for 2026 if the tax revenues are not available.
Drug court and therapeutic-court leaders asked the Cowlitz County commissioners on the county's budget workshop to restore key behavioral-health positions that were previously paid from the county’s mental health sales tax, which is no longer available to cover those roles.
Dallas DeLagrange, therapeutic court manager, said the program currently supervises roughly 115 clients across drug, mental health, family and juvenile dockets and that staffing cuts would reduce the program’s capacity. "We have 2 drug court case managers that supervise 70 clients, 33 in mental health court, and between the family court and juvenile court, I have 1 case…
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