DPSST committee will meet on Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan’s investigation next month

SALEM – The Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training’s (DPSST) Police Policy Committee (PPC) will hear and discuss the results of an investigation into Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan’s arrest and resulting criminal charges in May 2025. The meeting will be held Aug. 20.

DPSST does not mount investigations into criminal charges until they are settled in a court. On a charge of reckless driving, Rowan was given a 180-day diversion period which was completed and dismissed on March 12. For the charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants he was given a one year diversion period which ended June 12. He was also required to complete a Victim Impact Panel, install an ignition interlock device, and submit to booking and fingerprinting. The charge against him was then dismissed on June 15 of this year.

The incident itself occurred on May 16, 2025 when Rowan was arrested in Gilliam County. The DPSST case is prepared by Professional Standards Compliance Coordinator Melissa Lang-Bacho.

In a four-page memorandum to the committee, she reports that the committee will need to study Rowan’s conduct and whether it violates the board’s moral fitness standards. The points she discusses are dishonesty, misuse of authority, and misconduct.

Lang-Bacho’s report lists several exhibits including vehicle camera video, video from a body camera worn by a deputy, and a sergeant, and court records. Her four-page memo can be accessed at Department of Public Safety Standards and Training : Professional Standards Reviews and Economic Sanctions : Criminal Justice : State of Oregon by entering the name Terry Rowan.

Rowan stepped down after the incident from positions he held on the DPSST Board of Directors and the Police Policy Committee.

---

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

---

• 
• 
• 
• 

---

Elkhorn Media Group