From the Office of the Sheriff Sheriff Dennis L. Dotson

For Immediate Release

NEWS RELEASE

Date: April 27, 2007

Jail “Blue Ribbon Committee”

Earlier this year, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office reported the results of a study conducted by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). A NIC consultant examined our jail and spoke with a number of members from the criminal justice system in Lincoln County regarding the utilization and operation of the jail.

Sheriff Dotson has formed a Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) of criminal justice partners and others to discuss and ultimately decide how Lincoln County’s jail should be utilized. “When you really examine the situation, there are only three disciplines that are placing people in our county’s jail; police officers, the courts, and Parole & Probation” said Sheriff Dotson. “The Sheriff’s Office is then expected to manage the people it’s been given by these three entities,” said Dotson.

According to Dotson, Sheriff’s Office partners and citizen representatives are being given their first opportunity to meet as a group and decide how their jail is going to be utilized. The Lincoln County Jail has struggled for many years with the challenges of an offender population being sent to jail that exceeds the jail’s capacity. “This is not a unique situation for Oregon jails and with the loss of federal timber revenues, the situation for many counties will go from bad to grim,” said Sheriff Dotson. “Fortunately, our county jail is not one of those affected by the federal funding,” added Dotson.

Local members of the news media are being invited to attend this and any subsequent meetings. “The citizens deserve to know how their jail is being utilized and operated,” said Sheriff Dotson. “The news media outlets are one of the best ways to achieve this goal in Lincoln County,” said Dotson.

Members include:

• Robert Huckleberry, Presiding Judge
• Don Lindly, County Commissioner
• Bernice Barnett, District Attorney
• Wayne Belmont, County Counsel
• Jan Kaplan, Health & Human Services Director
• Alan Peterson, Juvenile Director
• Allen O’Neal, Newport City Manager
• Mark Miranda, Chief of Newport Police Department
• Steven Bechard, Chief of Lincoln City Police Department
• Susie Gonzales, Parole & Probation Director
• Mark Bryan, Publisher
• Bruce McCrum, Attorney at Law
• Rick Hill, DOC - Retired
• Dan Glode, District Attorney - Retired
• Lieutenant Jamie Russell, Jail Commander
• Sergeant Barbara Perry, Jail Supervisor
• Sergeant Thomas Graham, Jail Supervisor

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