Josephine County to Hold Executive Session to Hear Complaint Against Commissioner Ron Smith

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners announced it will hold an executive session at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in April 2025 to hear a complaint brought against Commissioner Ron Smith under Oregon Revised Statute 192.660(2)(b), the presiding official said.

The announcement said the meeting will begin with a county legal counsel update and then go “straight into executive session at 03:30 for the following agenda items. They are, hear a complaint brought against a public officer who does not request an open hearing,” the presiding official said. The presiding official identified the statutory authority as ORS 192.660(2)(b).

The board told accredited representatives of the news media that they “shall be allowed to attend the executive session,” but the presiding official also directed them “to not report on or otherwise disclose any of the deliberation or anything said about these subjects during the executive session except to state the general subject of the session as previously announced.” The presiding official added that “no decision may be made in the executive session.”

Recording devices were addressed at the start of the meeting; the presiding official said the recorder and all other recording devices, including cell phones, should be turned off at 3:31 p.m. The board said it will return to open session after the executive session and welcome the audience back into the room.

The announcement did not provide additional details about the complaint, any requested open hearing by the officer involved, or a scheduled length for the executive session. No formal votes or other outcomes were recorded in the excerpted transcript.