Counties consider working together for deflection programs
By Terry Murry on Monday, July 1st, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
UMATILLA & MORROW COUNTIES – Oregon counties have until Sept. 1 to create deflection programs for people caught with opiates and other hard drugs. That’s the date that possession of such narcotics will become a misdemeanor instead of the current citation. That comes on the heels of strong opposition to the impact of decriminalizing drugs in the state.
The Oregon Legislature voted to recriminalize those narcotics and is providing funding to counties whose programs for deflection are approved. Deflection means the people do not enter the criminal justice program but instead opt for treatment for substance abuse disorder.
Having just a few months to create a program that has never existed before is hard and creating such in a rural area is even more difficult because fewer services exist. Umatilla County District Attorney Dan Primus says it’s possible forces could be combined among counties.
“We work well with our partners,” he said. “We work pretty closely with Morrow County and some of the other counties.”
Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson says it would make sense to partner with Umatilla County.
“We use the same mental health and addiction treatment providers,” he said. “Our primary one is Community Counseling Solutions.” Umatilla and Morrow counties are two of the 23 counties that have signed up for the grant funding and are working toward a deflection program.
