Crook County reviews sheriff’s core services and outlines staffing shortfalls

Crook County leaders held a special session on Sept. 26 to review the sheriff’s office "core services" and three service-level options — minimum, middle and ideal — as staff prepare budget recommendations for the fall.

County Manager Will Van Bacter opened the session and said the presentation was intended to clarify what each service level looks like operationally. "We’re not gonna try to confuse the conversation with numbers today," he told the board, asking only for feedback on information needs before staff returns with cost estimates.

Lieutenant Drew Rasmussen, who leads jail operations, cited statutory obligations and described how staffing affects custody capacity and safety. Rasmussen said the justice center is an 86‑bed facility but that current operational capacity is "about 65 to 70" when accounting for classification and the presence of violent inmates. He outlined three staffing profiles: an "ideal" model with multiple dedicated teams able to manage transports, extraditions and training; a "critical" model that drops night staffing and forces use of a matrix/release system; and a "bare‑bones" minimum that would require sheriff or patrol leadership to absorb courtroom security and transports.

Patrol Lieutenant Mitch Madden said patrol is functionally split into green/yellow/red staffing bands. Under the current "yellow" conditions the office is operating with reduced coverage, deputies on call for days off, and increased response times. Madden told the board that, "As of January 1 to today, we've had 12,472 calls for service" and that his office has produced 1,764 written reports year‑to‑date, emphasizing that deputies are frequently pulled to staff the jail.

Aaron Boyse, lieutenant for community corrections (parole and probation), said ideal staffing would allow caseloads of roughly 20–25 per probation officer to meet Oregon Administrative Rules and deliver evidence‑based supervision. He said current caseloads are about 40–45 per officer and that a bare‑minimum, grant‑only model would push caseloads above 70 and likely breach OAR requirements.

Sheriff Bill Elliott summarized informal comparables from nearby counties and warned of operational risks when agencies drop to single‑officer coverage. He said one comparable county had three officer‑involved shootings this year and that two of those were attributed locally to one‑deputy coverage models. Elliott also reported justice center throughput figures (reported in the meeting as 28,142) and said there were three inmates in custody on homicide charges.

During discussion, commissioners asked for more granular data — including time spent by deputies in the courtroom for flagged cases, the hours deputies spend on state highways, and how much mutual‑aid backup the Oregon State Police can reliably provide. Staff agreed to supply the sheriff’s PowerPoint and to prepare comparative tables that show where services decline as the county moves from ideal to mid to minimum service levels. Van Bacter proposed one more special meeting to present those tables and, after that, to include cost estimates before the Oct. 23 budget discussion.

A Brianville resident and search‑and‑rescue volunteer, Nigel Bau, urged the county to consider volunteer constraints in remote rescues, noting volunteers reduce patrol burden but that long missions can leave deputies an hour or more from other incidents.

The board made a procedural motion to adjourn, seconded and carried by voice vote.

Next steps: staff will provide the sheriff’s slides and a set of comparative tables for each division and schedule a follow‑up special meeting to present service‑level cost estimates prior to the Oct. 23 budget session.