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Umatilla County district attorney asks commissioners to fund a courthouse comfort dog; $15,000 added to budget
Summary
The district attorney asked the board to approve a pilot comfort/companion dog trained at an eastern Oregon corrections facility; the board approved a $15,000 program allocation in the adopted budget.
The Umatilla County District Attorney urged commissioners to add a funded pilot that would place a trained comfort dog in the DA's office and courtroom settings, telling the board the animal could help victims and staff during traumatic interviews and court proceedings.
District Attorney Neil (first name used in the meeting) described a training program operated at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution (EOCI) that raises and trains facility dogs from inmates. He said the program offers both rehabilitative opportunities for incarcerated trainers and would provide county victims with a nonclinical calming resource during case work and interviews. "These animals have helped him by himself," the DA said of an inmate trainer he met; he framed the dog as a way to offer compassion to victims while providing a restorative connection to the training AICs at EOCI.
The DA asked commissioners to fund the first-year pilot at about $15,000 to cover acquisition and training through the EOCI program and initial operational support; meeting documents show the board recorded a $15,000 program-specific allocation in the adopted budget.
The district attorney also briefed the board on changes in the victim-advocate operation: a full-time advocate who is Spanish-speaking has been hired to replace a vacated, grant-funded cultural-specific role. The DA said the office will not re-fill a part-time advocate in Hermiston and instead will absorb those duties within the existing staff because federal grant streams remain uncertain this year.
In addition to the comfort-dog proposal, the DA summarized ongoing costs for the annual Eastern Oregon child-abuse training conference the office runs. He said the conference has become largely self-sustaining through sponsorships and holds statewide, national and international presenters; the office expects to retain a conference reserve fund for future speakers and training costs.
Commissioners approved the county budget that included the DA's $15,000 allocation. County staff will publish the details of the pilot and report back to the board on implementation plans, including rooming/kennel arrangements and operational policies for courthouse use.
