DPSST details the process regarding investigation into Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
SALEM – Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless driving in May 2025. On May 30, 2025, the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training filed an investigation into that incident. It is still ongoing as the DUII charge will not be settled by Rowan’s diversion program until June. Elkhorn Media Group asked DPSST Communications Coordinator Sam Tenney if it was possible to give a timeline of when the investigation could be complete.
He responded that several factors make it difficult to estimate how long it will take to reach a resolution. First of all, DPSST doesn’t proceed with a professional standards case involving arrests or criminal citations until a final disposition is reached in the matter. Tenney said if our report that it would be settled in June means his agency won’t begin reviewing the case until then. At that time they will request court documents, arrest records, and other pertinent material.
“Staff will review those documents and issue a report on the matter for the Police Policy Committee (PPC),” he responded. “The absolute soonest we’d be able to have the case in front of the committee would be during the Aug. 20 meeting.”
Tenney added that if that timeline is not feasible, it would likely go before the PPC at its next meeting in November.
The PPC will review the case and make a recommendation about whether or not to take action with the Board on Public Safety Standards and Training acting as the deciding body once that recommendation is made. That board meets every quarter, so if the case goes before the PPC in August, the board would be voting on it at its Oct. 22 meeting. If it takes until the November PPC meeting, the next Board meeting is in January 2027.
“There are a lot of hypotheticals involved,” Tenney wrote. “If it comes to be that the PPC recommends the board take action on Sheriff Rowan’s certifications, and if the board votes to accept that recommendation, he will have the right to appeal that decision.”
An appeal can play out for several months, during which time Rowan’s certifications would remain active. If the PPC recommends no action and the board affirms that, he said the case against the sheriff will be closed with no further action.
File photo of DPSST headquarters in Salem
