Time is ticking for Oregon counties as the state gears up to reintroduce drug possession charges on September 1, with local officials working against the clock to establish new programs aimed at deflecting drug offenders toward treatment rather than jail. According to KATU, the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission is on a mission to get addiction counseling initiatives up and running after disbursing over $6 million in planning grants to 20 counties.
Scrambling to adapt, lawmakers passed HB 4002, bringing back the drug possession charge, alongside HB 5204, injecting roughly $20 million into county coffers to kickstart a treatment-first approach. Initially, the deflection was to be more than an option; however, bipartisan negotiations saw it morph into a voluntary proposal, giving counties free rein over the design and implementation of their programs. In the deal, struck under the Capitol dome, 23 counties tentatively raised their hands to pledge efforts toward setting up deflection programs and are expected to grab their slice of the seed money pie by June.
Focus shifts to Washington County, where the local sheriff's office is carving its path within these new directives, laying the groundwork for a response to drug-related issues. "I think the wheels are turning and my understanding is that they have a program that’s in progress, but I don’t think they’ve fine-tuned all the details yet," David Huey, public information officer for the Washington County Sheriff's Office, told KGW.
Officials in Washington County are piecing together their strategy, expecting it to adapt and mature with time. "Our goal is not to impact local law enforcement and not to have them make a lot of decisions out on the road," said Simich via KGW, elucidating their aims to streamline the deflection process. Their plan to self-fund within the state's allocation manifests with an expected $1.3 million infusion split between late May and fall.
