Multnomah County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to approve $965,885 to add background investigators and recruiters to assist the sheriff’s office. filling vacant parliamentary positions in prison.

The vote came after Commissioners Julia Brim-Edwards and Sharon Meieran criticized Mayor Jessica Vega Pederson for not acting sooner after Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell said in the spring that her office was facing a “staffing crisis” and requested annual funding It came after he criticized for.

Morrisey O’Donnell The money approved Thursday could be used from Dec. 1 through June 30 to address “permanent staffing and recruiting” challenges in the sheriff’s human resources unit, he said.

“I thank the board for recognizing this urgent need,” he said.

On June 6, the board voted 3-2 to reject the amendment Brim-Edwards introduced a month earlier to provide $900,500. in ongoing financing For the human resources unit, the Board instead allocated a one-time $450,000 in this year’s fiscal budget.

The sheriff’s office routinely carries 80 to 90 vacancies, including about 30 correctional positions. In 2023, with adjustments, 62 MPs were recruited, while 58 MPs were lost due to retirement or resignations, while a net gain of four MPs was achieved.

From mid-2021 to early 2022, the sheriff’s office lost about half of its corrections staff, said Jon Harms Mahlandt, the sheriff’s chief of business services.

Morrisey O’Donnell recently said two jails in the county were dealing with “horrific” conditions due to lack of staff and access that could lead to forced evictions.

The $965,885 will come from interest earned on American Rescue Plan funds, the district’s share of COVID-19 stimulus money, and will cover two new background investigators, one new recruit and an additional office assistant. It will also support eight other positions in the human resources office that were filled but not covered by general fund money and were supported solely by vacancy savings, according to the sheriff.

Meieran said the crisis was “avoidable and predictable” if Vega Pederson had approved all of the sheriff’s requests during the budget process.

“Our county leader has once again arrived late to an emergency and wants to be greeted as a hero when he finally gets to where the rest of us started,” Meieran said. Addressing the president, he added: “If you had been concerned about this, there would have been no crisis to begin with.”

Brim-Edwards said she was disappointed that the board did not approve this change earlier in the year or provide full annual funding for the sheriff’s human resources unit and instead approve annual funding for “non-essential” services.

“I think the county is already severely compromised by potential (jail) emergency releases and periodic closures of bookings that have negative impacts on community safety,” he said. “I believe this should have been funded from the budget last June. “We need the sheriff to be fully staffed, not only for the safety of the community, but also for the support, welfare and safety of jail staff and adults in custody.”

Vega Pederson defended his actions and partially blamed the operation of the sheriff’s human resources office. He also said the county is providing an additional $10 million in “restoration,” or funding for new demands on the sheriff’s office, in the $201 million budget for this fiscal year.

“Our central human resources team has been meeting with the sheriff’s HR team since the beginning of 2024. They believe the hiring and background check issues at MCSO are primarily due to performance process issues within the MCSO HR team,” Vega Pederson said.

The mayor said he plans to hold the sheriff’s human resources department “accountable” to make sure it uses the money effectively. He asked the sheriff to provide the board with monthly updates on hiring and a weekly report on jail capacity.

Vega Pederson said she expects to see “rapid declines in vacancies, increased employee retention, and staffing issues resolved to the extent possible.”

Brim-Edwards disagreed with Vega Pederson and said it was unfair for the chairman to say he would “hold the sheriff responsible for staffing that the county commission did not fund.”

The sheriff’s office operates two jails: the Multnomah County Detention Center and the Inverness Jail. There are five vacant dormitories at Inverness Prison. By the end of October, the two prisons had reached 92% of their 1,130-bed capacity. If the prison reaches 95% capacity, the prison emergency triggers the release of inmates based on the risk assessment score.

Compared to the pre-pandemic years of 2018 and 2019, when the sheriff’s office had a list of 80 to 120 inmates in custody on low-level, nonviolent charges, today the population has shifted significantly, leaving a list of three to five inmates. Mahlandt said they were faced with such low-level allegations that there was a choice about forced eviction.

The sheriff estimates that 65% to 70% of people held in county jails are facing charges stemming from crimes committed against people, with just over 100 facing murder-related charges. The detained population has more extreme mental health and addiction issues, he said.

— Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice issues. Reach him at 503-221-8212, [email protected], follow at X @maxoregonianor on LinkedIn.

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