County backs DA PERS change
By Terry Murry on Monday, February 6th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
UMATILLA COUNTY – The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners is backing a legislative proposal that district attorneys and deputy district attorneys be included in the Police/Fire Public Employee Retirement System instead of being simply in PERS.
The vote taken last week was unanimous. Commissioner John Shafer called the proposal a no-brainer.
“They go out on scene, just like police officers and firefighters do,” he said. “They’re watching the body cam footage. They’re listening to the audio and experiencing the horrific things that people do to each other these days.”
In its request to the Oregon Legislature, the Oregon District Attorneys Association said district attorneys and deputy district attorneys work around the clock, responding to crime scenes.
“Stalking, threats, and risk of physical and psychological harm by those they prosecute is not uncommon,’ the proposal states. “They respond to homicides in the middle of the night … and work side by side with other law enforcement to build cases from the ground up. Their jobs are difficult, traumatic, and require exceptional personal sacrifice.”
ODAA President Dan Primus, the district attorney for Umatilla County, said being able to offer the police/fire designation would help attract applicants to rural areas, could interest attorneys in bigger cities to transfer to rural areas, and could help retain the deputy district attorneys who already work here.
“It would be a huge tool in both recruitment and retention,” Primus said.
Police officers, parole officers, prison guards, firefighters, and prosecuting attorneys are banned from going on strike under Oregon law. Of all of those groups of employees, the prosecutors are the only one not categorized as police/fire under PERS.
CORRECTION: Information received from ODAA mistakenly stated that 911 dispatchers are also categorized as police/fire. A Umatilla County dispatcher says that is not true. However, a bill is being introduced in the Oregon Legislature this session will change that if House Bill 2212 passes.
