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Crook County appoints outside hearings officer to review possible revocation of permits
Summary
The Crook County Board appointed attorney Joshua Soaper as hearings officer to run an initial evidentiary proceeding on requests to modify or revoke two conditional use permits; the move was presented as a due‑process step to avoid legal vulnerabilities.
The Crook County Board of Commissioners on May 6 appointed an outside hearings officer to conduct an initial proceeding on whether two conditional use permits should be modified or revoked.
John (Community Development Director) told the board that the planning commission had received requests tied to planning records and recommended an initial hearings‑officer proceeding because of potential bias and procedural complexity. "The parties need to show there’s a reasonable suspicion the evidence meets the standard to move forward in this," John said, describing a written‑evidence first phase with 14‑day windows for parties to submit materials and an open‑record period before final decision.
The appointed hearings officer is Joshua Soaper of the law firm Beer Ilsner & Hammond, identified in staff materials as an attorney with county land‑use experience. The board approved Order 2026‑18 to vest the hearings officer with the planning commission’s delegable authority for this matter.
Members of the public who have long pressed for enforcement raised frustration that prior enforcement steps had not produced the outcomes they sought. Julie Thompson, a local resident and planning participant, asked why the county had previously not acted and whether the process merely delays outcomes. Staff and commissioners emphasized that the hearings‑officer route is intended to create a complete, neutral administrative record that can withstand judicial review: "If the hearings officer’s decision is appealed, you guys have the option of considering that appeal or kicking it to LUBA," John said, referring to the Land Use Board of Appeals.
What happens next: after the hearings officer sets a schedule the county will send notice to parties and stakeholders; the initial written‑evidence phase will run on a courtlike schedule set by the hearings officer.
