Board approves new Community Corrections Case Specialist to handle rising caseload

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners approved replacing one Senior Department Specialist position with a Community Corrections Case Specialist at its Aug. 11 workshop to help manage growing community-supervision caseloads.

Community Justice Director Scott Hyde told the Board that "the number of individuals on community supervision had increased from approximately 750 at the beginning of the year to approximately 820," and said the reclassification would support increased intake, lower-risk check-ins, compliance monitoring, and required data tracking. Interim Human Resources Director Natalie Eckhardt-Doupe and Hyde said sufficient funding exists in the Adult Community Corrections Fund to cover the change.

The change is intended to shift duties so staff can better match supervision levels and manage additional intake volume as the office sees growth in lower-level drug case prosecutions. The Board approved the reclassification without objection; no roll-call vote was recorded in the minutes.

The reclassification decision will allow the department to hire or reassign an employee into the new Community Corrections Case Specialist role; staff did not specify a target hire date at the workshop. Commissioners did not request further study and did not attach conditions to the approval.