Witnesses urge full funding for HB 5004, citing $18.18 daily cost study and staffing shortfalls

The Public Safety Subcommittee opened a public hearing March 13 on House Bill 5004, the Department of Corrections’ budget bill, where dozens of county officials, corrections directors, formerly incarcerated people and nonprofit partners urged the Legislature to fully fund community corrections at the $18.18 per‑day rate identified in a 2024 actual cost study.

The request matters because counties operate community corrections programs that supervise, treat and assist people released to the community. Witnesses said underfunding has forced staff reductions and program cuts and increases pressure on probation officers, jails and other public safety systems.

DV Holcomb, director of Deschutes County Community Justice, told the committee that Deschutes reduced its share of the prison population by 48% since 2015 and cited local outcomes while urging full funding of the cost study and support for policy option package 102. “We have reduced our share of the prison population by 48% since 2015 without compromising public safety,” Holcomb said. He added that community supervision in Deschutes costs $18.18 per client per day according to the 2024 study and warned that shortfalls would force a return to a “passive, operation” model that could increase incarceration.

Erica Wimbish, who identified herself as a peer support specialist formerly supervised on parole and probation, described how local supervision and programming contributed to eight years of sobriety and employment and said, “I am in full support of this bill and…