The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 13 approved a budget modification to align the county’s specialty treatment-court budgets with final Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) awards. Tiara Hubbard, adult services division director at the Department of Community Justice (DCJ), and Caroline Wong of the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office presented the changes and answered commissioner questions.

Hubbard summarized impacts to each court, saying DISP court (intensive supervision) and STEP court saw reductions in provider pass-through funding while mental-health court received a modest $688 increase in pass-through funding. Hubbard said the initial DCJ budget had assumed larger awards and the final allocation required a true-up. "While the award is for two years, this budget modification only focuses on the first year in the biennium," she told the board.

Caroline Wong said the DA’s office is maintaining service levels but noted partial, part-time CJC funding for some DDA positions and carryforward revenue increasing FTE allocations in certain courts. For example, grant carryforward increased DISP-related attorney FTE from 0.29 to 0.39 in fiscal 2026 and funded temporary personnel costs; veterans treatment court received 0.15 DDA FTE in a modest startup allocation.

Commissioners asked how the CJC awards compared to requested levels and about staffed versus funded positions. Hubbard said some courts were funded at as low as 47% of the county’s request; the county did not prevail on its protest of award levels. Commissioners also requested follow-up data on outcomes tied to sustained funding levels.

Motion and vote: The consent-motion for R2 was moved and seconded; the board conducted a roll-call vote and approved the modification. The clerk recorded affirmative votes by commissioners present and the motion was adopted.

Next steps: Staff will return as needed with additional details about staffing and outcomes measures and accommodate other departmental budget modifications when external grant awards change.